Westpac

The new inquiry into common ownership wants to find evidence of collusion between super funds. But it appears to be the quintessential storm in a teacup. The standing committee on economics’ inquiry into the implications of common ownership and capital concentration in Australia has supposed a problem and now faces the difficult task of finding…

Market falls, BHP merges with Woodside, CBA’s correction It was another rough day for the ASX200 (ASX: XJO) with the selling pressure continuing to grow as reporting season picks up steam. The financial sector was the biggest contributor to the markets 0.9% fall, dragged down 1.7% by Magellan Financial Group (ASX: MFG) and the Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) which is nearing a technical…

ASX down as Victoria braces, materials weaker, ALS profit jumps The ASX200 (ASX: XJO) finished 0.3% lower on Wednesday, with the materials and e-commerce sectors leading the fall.  BHP Group (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) remain under pressure, falling over 2% each as the hot commodity sector is cooled by increasing supply. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:…

ASX hits 14-month high, ANZ dividend surprise, Nearmap upgrades revenue guidance  The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) reached a 14-month high, adding 0.4% and once again nearing a record. The primary driver was the healthcare sector, up 1.1%, with key constituent CSL (ASX:CSL) up 2.4% offering the majority of the support. Private hospital, imaging, and COVID-19 testing firm Healius (ASX:HLS) finished flat despite reporting…

ASX hits new high, value rotation continues, car sales spike The ASX200 finished another 0.6% higher on Wednesday, reaching the highest point since February last year but still some way off the all-time high of 7,199 points. Once again it was the energy and materials sectors boosting the market as a flood of more positive economic news…

Once upon a time, in the 1980s, Australia was a world leader in the provision of systems to allow the development of master trusts and better efficiencies for advisers. Then the banks took over. Now, according to Wealth02 director Darren Pettiona, the US is “way ahead of Australia in fintech”. But that is about to…

Northern Trust has won another passive global equities gig with a bank-owned KiwiSaver fund following a mandate reshuffle at the Westpac scheme in New Zealand. Australia’s Ninety One was also a winner in the reshuffle. Along with several other changes, Northern Trust picked up a spot among six managers on the Westpac/BT international equities panel,…

Commonwealth Bank executive Andrew Hall has joined the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) as its new chief executive. Hall was previously Commonwealth Bank’s executive general manager for corporate affairs for over seven years and before that was director of corporate and public affairs at Woolworths for over six years. Hall will take over from outgoing…

Westpac has announced a new specialist businesses division and has appointed Jason Yetton as chief executive of the division. The specialist business division has been created to simplify the Australian and New Zealand banking businesses. This will include wealth platforms, superannuation and retirement products, investment, general and life insurance, auto finance and Westpac Pacific. Yetton…

Investors hoping that the big banks will restore their dividends sooner rather than later are likely to be disappointed, as the earnings pressure on the banking sector will continue into the 2020/21 financial year. The banks’ March-half earnings (December-half in Commonwealth Bank’s case) fell by an average of 33 per cent, driven by big increases…