Ancillary service inspires giving
A new service aims to support planners who have clients with strong philanthropic leanings. Simon Hoyle reports. There were an estimated 175,000 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in Australia at the beginning of 2010. The 2010 Merrill Lynch/Capgemini World Wealth Report (WWR), which tracks the fortunes of the world’s richest investors, says that the combined wealth of Australia’s
October 01, 2010
Triple dip just not on the cards
There can’t be a triple-dip recession if we haven’t even had a single-dip recession; but if there is, says Ron Bewley, you read it here first. At the beginning of this year, the term “double dip” had almost left our lexicon. But now it is back in spades. Investors are worried, and those sidelines are brimming
October 01, 2010
Prosperity, not austerity, is our real problem
The horse has bolted, and now regulators are shutting the stable door. Frank Gelber asks: How do we get the horse back in the stable? Compared with the rest of the world, Australia certainly has had a soft landing after the GFC-induced shock. The much-feared recession never eventuated. Unemployment peaked below 6 per cent. That
October 01, 2010
What you need to know before you start
Investor interest in responsible investment (RI) is booming, so how can you integrate RI advice into your practice? Megan Lewis talks to some advisers who know. Offering responsible advice on responsible investing as part of your practice has some definite advantages. According to advisers who’ve elected to set up dedicated RI advice practices, it provides higher
October 01, 2010
Private equity – here be dragons
Dug Higgins says portfolio construction and asset allocation have been put through the wringer over the past two years, throwing more focus on alternative asset classes as a way of increasing the robustness of portfolios. Private equity (PE) has developed into a major component of the alternative investment universe, and is now broadly accepted as
October 01, 2010
Old dogs, new tricks – the key to responsible investing
“Old dogs need to learn new tricks,” according to Dr Matthew Kiernan, CEO of Inflection Point Capital Management (Canada). Kiernan opened the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia’s (RIAA) 7th International Responsible Investment Conference in Sydney yesterday by claiming that investment companies need to adopt a sustainable investing approach if they want to survive. “SAI, Strategically
September 15, 2010
More interest in fixed income could save clients
Fund managers should be doing more to improve financial planners’ understanding of fixed interest as an asset class, according to Peter Dorrian, head of global wealth management for PIMCO (pictured, left). Dorrian says planners have only an average understanding of the asset class, and if the knowledge gap is not addressed they could be putting
September 14, 2010
Make money, not war
Communist China and free-wheeling Taiwan cooperate in business to a surprising degree for two places that sporadically threaten to restart the civil war in China that ended in 1949. In late June, the pair – you can’t say countries because China sees Taiwan as a renegade province – signed a free-trade pact that is the
September 13, 2010
The emerging story on developing markets
Investors hear a lot about emerging markets and how these markets should be included in their portfolios. Here are a few interesting numbers that tell the story.
August 18, 2010
REVEALED: 2010 S&P Fund Award finalists (in association with Professional Planner)
For the second year running, Professional Planner and fund research group Standard & Poor’s (S&P) have joined forces to recognise excellence in the Australian managed funds industry. Today, we are pleased to announce the complete list of finalists in the 2010 S&P/Professional Planner Fund Awards.
August 16, 2010
Portfolio planning is for pros
Before the global financial crisis(GFC) gripped our world of portfolio construction, I was happy to think in terms of a highly concentrated portfolio of eight to 15 blue-chip stocks. It is easier to find a few good stocks than a large number; and the diversification benefits fall off rapidly when increasing the number of stocks.
August 10, 2010
Why property now offers low risk and high potential returns
Frank Gelber examines whether we should invest in equity and property markets right now, or wait until the pack moves in. The GFC correction isn’t over. We’ve had the yield correction. Next comes the recovery in incomes; but we need to differentiate between financial equity investment and real investment (construction, equipment et cetera) in capital
August 07, 2010
