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Thursday, 27 February 2020
Recently trending Are you caught in the ‘retirement trap’?The power of letting winners runTony Togher on why cash isn’t just cashNAB hybrid: one says buy, one says sell, you decideWatch your SMSF’s annual return this year
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Arguments between segments of the super industry do not foster public confidence. SMSFs are suitable for many who seek control of their own financial destiny, but it's not a competition.
Investors overlook that they are charged more as the market rises. Far more financial services should cost a flat fee, with portfolios dominated by index exposure backed by a few active managers.
Internal emails from the regulator released under an FOI request reveal warnings about advice conflict when selling fees are paid on LICs. Investors need to understand the consequences of the debate.
How can an adviser who is receiving a significant fee for selling a product be in a position to offer good, impartial advice to their client? They can’t, and the industry will slowly accept this.
The overhaul of financial advice practices affects not only advisers but also their clients. Legislative changes are coming by mid next year and too few people are considering them.
Statements by Brian Hartzer, CEO of Westpac, confirm that financial advice delivered by advisers to the mass market is not financially viable, and technology is the solution if most Australians are not to miss out.
In a response to Graham Hand's article on why roboadvice is struggling, the case is made that conventional financial advice will increasingly confine itself to the wealthy, and the mass market needs another solution.
‘Suitability’ of financial advice is something unlikely to be addressed by the Royal Commission, but its adoption and regulation is crucial to the improvement of the wealth management industry.
Many people have changed their minds on whether the Royal Commission was a good idea. What the fact-finding reveals though is an age-old lesson in economics: outcomes gravitate toward incentives.
The characteristic tone of the Royal Commission was set on the first day focus on financial advice, and no witness has been able to defend commissions to advisers and the vertical integration model.
Grandfathering and the implications for commissions has become a major flash point, and the Royal Commission is focussing on problems created when advisers are given the wrong incentives.
Following the Ripoll Inquiry in November 2009, the Labor Government formulated the Future of Financial Advice proposals. A lot has happened since, and the Royal Commission is dealing with the consequences.
Our retirement savings system is supposed to encourage financial independence but there is a ‘Retirement Trap’ due to the reduction of age pension entitlements as assets and income rise.
Handling extreme winners is a complex task. Conventional wisdom such as “you never go broke taking a profit” often leaves a lot of money on the table as strong growth stocks continue to run.
An active manager of cash and fixed interest funds can achieve higher returns than the cash rate through a selection of other securities while managing both liquidity and income for clients.
Differences of opinion make a market, and hybrid specialists disagree on the likelihood that NAB will call one of its hybrids early. It makes a major difference to the expected return on NABHA.
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.
Investors worried about an overvalued sharemarket and low interest rates on term deposits and bonds are focusing on alternatives. What are they and how are they used by leading asset allocators?