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Saturday, 23 October 2021
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We tend to call any change a 'disruption', but the vast majority of so-called disruptive technologies are variations on a theme. Many innovations are really high-risk, low-probability investments.
In Part 2 of this two-part series, Hamish discusses how the most dominant businesses of the last 50 years might struggle, faced with new threats, and even Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are worried.
The marketing of Spaceship super has been better at engaging young people than any superannuation fund before it, but does it have the right product for a long-term flight?
Most investors think of online disruption in terms of the developed world and Silicon Valley, but there are important implications for listed companies in emerging markets.
The stock market is increasingly looking like a 'barbell' of company returns with a few big winners and lots of losers, especially in retailing where new competition led by Amazon is nothing less than a seismic change.
Consumers of financial products are increasingly willing to place their trust in new intermediaries, including fintechs driving change with innovation and consumer-driven processes.
Angel investors are often the first source of funding for start-ups with little more than an idea, but success relies on execution and learning how to go to the next level.
The success of companies such as Starbucks, Amazon, and Google is a result of a talented and dedicated founder leading the way. Their long-term vision drives innovation and pushes past set-backs along the way.
Behind the glossy facade of the website of the roboadviser, how effectively will the business model deliver quality financial advice and appropriate investment outcomes at a competitive price?
Roboadvice disruption could come from anywhere, opening the door for non-traditional providers without incumbents even realising it. When it's more exciting, it can grab the attention of the previously disengaged.
A seismic shift is happening right under the banks’ noses. Tech companies with leading brands, customer loyalty and sizeable balance sheets are adding banking products and financial services to their broad array of offerings.
Looking at the decade ahead, who are the likely winners and losers in the wealth management industry as it adapts to technological innovations, with a particular focus on superannuation? (Plus see related video)
The RBA Governor says rising house prices are due to "the design of our taxation and social security systems". The OECD says "the prolonged boom in house prices has inflated the wealth of many pensioners without impacting their pension eligibility." What's your view?
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.