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Thursday, 28 October 2021
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The Royal Commission has done great work, but most bank activities remain untouched, including the crucial issue of how banks price their products. Kenneth Hayne asks if banks are capable of the change required.
The Royal Commission focusses heavily on poor incentives amid a sea of damnation and exhaustively-documented case studies, but does not provide answers, especially on the vexed issue of best interests.
Chris Stott’s latest trends, plus Christopher Joye, Garry Weaven, Alex Pollak, Jonathan Rochford, Brett Gillespie, Assyat David and Mark Ellem.
An investment conference attended by thousands of leaders from industry and finance points the way to future investment trends.
Many investors who hold offshore securities do not realise that much of the return comes from the FX hedge rather than the asset itself. And now US rates have risen, the benefit for Aussies has turned around.
Disruption investing is not the same as investing in technology. It's about knowing which companies are best placed to capitalise on the next big trends, and the winners are not always obvious.
APRA’s letter to super funds highlights concerns about 'cash' investments. A lack of understanding might haunt investors when the next downturn comes as too many people forsake protection for yield.
Garry Weaven was instrumental in the development of the industry fund movement, and as Chair of IFM Investors, he outlined his five areas of future investment potential and policy in his address to the AIST Conference.
Retirement is not a steady state of more time for holidays and family. Planning must allow for the onset of part-disability and disability, and costs can rise significantly in the final 'frailty' years.
Even for this experienced SMSF technical services executive, the tighter rules for borrowing in his SMSF brought some unexpected problems. It's much harder now than most people realise.
Even the experts concede that the more you know, the less you can be sure. Donald Trump is playing a game of brinkmanship with the trade wars, and it could end badly. Or not.
We tend to forget that house prices often fall. Direct lending controls are more effective than rate rises because macroprudential limits affect the volume of money for housing leaving business rates untouched.
The survey drew a fantastic 2,000 responses with over 1,000 comments and polar opposite views on what is good policy. Do most people believe the home should be in the age pension asset test, and what do they say?
Any policy decision needs to recognise who is affected by a change. It pays to check the data on who pays taxes, who owns assets and who earns the income to ensure an equitable and efficient outcome.
With articles on the pensions assets test read about 40,000 times, 3,500 survey responses and thousands of comments, there was a lot of great reader participation. A few comments added extra insights.
It is hard to think of any area of widespread public concern where the same policies have been pursued for so long, in the face of such incontrovertible evidence that they have failed to achieve their objectives.
There are reasons to believe inflation will stay under control, and although we may see a slowing in the global economy, two companies should benefit from the themes of 'Stable Compounders' and 'Structural Winners'.