Piers Bolger … ‘you need both an investment and a moral compass’ Piers Bolger, the head of research and strategy at BT Financial Group, says you need both an investment and a moral compass to capture the opportunities from market cycles. And after more than 20 years as an investment specialist, he has seen a…
(Pictured:Â David Murray) Comment by Greg Bright Widespread disquiet within the broad superannuation and funds management industry over David Murray’s appointment to chair the Inquiry into the Financial System threatens to spoil the process and question the findings before it even begins. At the moment, the disappointment is being expressed primarily through the usual grumbling mechanisms…
(Pictured: Ian Irvine) The ASX Managed Funds Service – formerly known as AQUA II – is almost completed and awaiting regulatory approval for a launch in the new year. The 64 initial providers, including REs, managers, unit registries and administrators, have been told to be ready to go in the first quarter, which is earlier…
Australasian Wealth Investments has confirmed the purchase of a second managed funds purchase and advice portal, agreeing to pay up to $12.5 million for YourShare, a small business based in the NSW southern highlands. The deal was foreshadowed in a presentation coinciding with AWI’s annual general meeting last month, at which was decided to turn…
(Pictured:Â Jane Ambachtsheer) It is often said that performance, in the form of investment returns, is difficult to predict, but costs are not. Yet investors continue to leave money on the table due to “friction costs”, according to a recent paper by Mercer. The paper, “Behaving Like an Owner: Plugging Investment Chain Leakages”, splits the frictions…
By Rob Prugue* When I read the piece [last week’s edition of Investor Strategy News] advising investors to “beware” of high dividends and payouts, I wanted to see if there was a ‘comment’ section underneath as I wanted to challenge such a view. (Investor Strategy News does not have ‘comment’ sections under individual reports but…
(Pictured:Â Rick Lacaille) The predictions for next year have started. Aided by a media which is still required to fill columns no matter what is happening, or not happening, fund managers and others are about to embark on their annual market forecasts. The Sunday papers are particularly fond of these predictions, most popularly asking various high-profile…
Graham Rich … ‘quality financial advice adds material value’ Graham Rich considers it a compliment that his own investment biases are not well known. The founder of several businesses, including that which became Morningstar in Australia, has devoted much of his career to providing independent and objective information to the financial advice industry. He speaks…
(Pictured:Â Andrew Barnes) By Greg Bright* Australasian Wealth Investments (AWI) last week transformed itself from an LIC – it started life as the Fat Prophets listed vehicle – into a traditional listed company after shareholders voted to remove the management company. As previously announced, most of the former investment portfolio has been cleaned out, allowing the…
(Pictured:Â Olivia Engel) There not many signs that companies are starting to reinvest in capital expenditure. More worryingly, they are leveraging and raising fresh capital to, largely, maintain or even increase dividends. A report by State Street Global Advisors points out both dividend per share and the payout ratios of ASX companies have risen by almost…
