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19 March 2026
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The Review includes some profound findings, most notable that retirement income should include drawing down far more capital. Expect post-retirement products to proliferate under a Retirement Income Covenant.
For all its widespread use in investing, growth/defensive remains undefined with a large degree of subjectivity. A Working Group is seeking an industry standard with measures for each asset class.
Susceptibility is the risk of severe illness or death if an individual contracts COVID-19. It shows how bad an outbreak could be by region and it will inform policy on relaxing restrictions.
The government’s early access to super scheme may reduce short-term financial stress for some, but members must understand how much tapping retirement savings will erode savings in later life.
Treasury is designing guidelines for retirement products which virtually preclude reversionary benefits, and yet these usually accrue to women when the male partner with more superannuation dies.
Enthusiasm for post-retirement investment products is growing, and the Government has just appointed an advisory group, but there are many reasons why the industry has not yet finalised the best outcomes.
With the upcoming budget increasingly likely to include bold proposals to alter the tax code I’ve outlined three incremental steps with fewer unintended consequences.
The impact of the Iran War is far more than expensive petrol. Higher oil prices have secondary inflationary impacts that reverberate throughout the economy which could be bad news for Australians with mortgages.
Global Listed Infrastructure dividends are forecast to grow 5-6% p.a over the next two years. After a hiatus, share buybacks are back on the agenda and will play an integral role in shareholder returns.
Past oil shocks offer lessons for investors dealing with the fallout from the Iran War and the ongoing impact on inflation.
Former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, once said "When you change the government, you change the country." We're about to see whether that holds true in Japan.
Central banks now hold more gold reserves than US Treasuries, signalling a shift in safe-haven asset strategy and portfolio diversification as geopolitical risks increase.
Historically economic progress is measured by GDP growth but there is an increasing body of work that explores quantitative measures of wellbeing.