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Friday, 10 April 2020
Recently trending How $200 billion is magically createdHoward Marks on 'Which way now?' - UPDATEDWhat are the possible economic effects of COVID-19 on the world economy?Note to Australia: be more French in the COVID-19 warWelcome to Firstlinks Edition 351
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The best way to preserve your SMSF’s favoured status is to make sure the fund’s annual return reaches the ATO on time. There are new rules this year that every SMSF trustee should know.
APRA is pushing for executive remuneration to move to non-financial metrics, which will lead to poor outcomes for all stakeholders. Investors should resist and vote against such measures at AGMs.
Thanks to the Royal Commission, everybody is aware of the problems with vertical integration and in-house conflicts for financial advisers. What should advisers and their clients look for?
SMSFs are useful retirement vehicles, but there are rules to follow which can easily be overlooked in haste. Run your eyes over the next five rules in this continuing list.
Recent legal cases involving Westpac and BT put to rest any view that 'caveat emptor' (buyer beware) applies to 'no' and 'general' advice service models, even though those models do not attract a best interests duty.
It is better for management and regulatory bodies to work together to preserve the innovative engines of Facebook and Google, not impose painful government intervention.
Labor is proposing to cap at $3,000 the amount that can be claimed as a tax deduction for managing tax affairs. There are many circumstances where taxpayers need to spend more than this.
Australia's major banks face many challenges but they are strong and remarkably adaptive and resilient. They have also finally accepted they are too big to behave badly.
A recent case highlights the importance of SMSF trustees exercising discretion to pay death benefits in good faith, with real and genuine consideration and in accordance with the purpose of the conferred power.
An inducement offer by a super fund is currently active, and it is creating confusion about what marketing is permissible, given that previously, regulators held such to be in violation of the sole purpose test.
What is the difference between ESG as measured by the Dow Jones Sustainability Australia Index, and taking an approach that includes ethical factors?
Professor Pamela Hanrahan of the UNSW provided much of the background material used by the Financial Services Royal Commission, and she reviews the final outcome in this BusinessThink interview.
Australia is in a relatively good position to borrow $200 billion, with the RBA using printed money to buy bonds in the market. The long-term consequences are better than the alternative.
Howard Marks is the largest investor in the world in distressed securities. What does he think after checking the virus positives and negatives, and how much has he changed his mind in only a few days?
In a widely-quoted scenario using estimated attack and fatality rates of coronavirus, about 0.07% of the population of the US dies. That's about 230,000 people, which the market is not ready for.
Andrew Baker is well-known as a superannuation consultant. Now working in the UK, he was caught in France with his family and is in lockdown. He worries Australian policy was too slow.
The $130 billion wage stimulus is astounding in its generosity and scope. It's equivalent to the annual budgets for defence, education and health combined. A cafe owner told me a casual dishwasher who was paid $60 for two hours work a week now wants the $1,500 fortnightly payment. Shane Oliver exclusively explains where $200 billion will come from, and some longer-term consequences.
Hamish Douglass outlines the three main issues in the outbreak of coronavirus, with consequences which may change businesses and consumers forever. Will we face V-shape, U-shape or depression?