Investment

Tread Lightly, Collaboratively Post Banking Royal Commission

Reverberations will continue to be felt across the mahogany boardrooms and expansive top-floor executives suites of Australia’s admonished banking and financial services giants, as the royal commission claims more scalps while others jump the proverbial ship. The revelations exposed by the royal commission have been nothing short of appalling. As members of the profession – and as people who are proud to call themselves financial advisers – We find it jarring and disappointing that these are the circumstances in which the [...]

Bitcoin and The Basics Of Cryptocurrencies

Three years ago Bitcoin was $250AUD. With a 10,000% increase in price since then, it is starting to generate significant buzz with the everyday investor, as is the underlying technology driving it, “blockchain”. But what are digital currencies and should you be investing in them? We asked renowned technologist and futurist, Mark Pesce to take us on the bitcoin / blockchain journey. “Never invest in a business you don’t understand.” A simple bit of advice from the Sage of Omaha, Warren [...]

Yes, Virginia, There is a Banking Royal Commission – Unfortunately

In a matter of days, Santa will be putting the finishing touches on his “Naughty” and “Nice” lists and it remains unclear on which side of the ledger the banks will sit. It’s an understatement, of course, to suggest the big four (CBA, Westpac, ANZ and NAB) won’t be expecting an outpouring of festive cheer and goodwill from their 17+ million customers this year. Despite holding around 2.5 trillion of our money, collectively – (and 80% of the nation’s loans) - [...]

Bitcoin: the very definition of a bubble

Legend has it that Joe Kennedy, father of former President John F Kennedy, avoided the stock market crash of 1929 by selling his entire portfolio just days before prices collapsed. He did this, the story goes, after receiving a share tip from a shoeshine boy. When taxi drivers, lift attendants and young lads on the sidewalk are speculating in stocks, he concluded, “the market is too popular for its own good”. The stock market is riding high today but I’d be [...]

The 19 Questions to Ask your Financial Adviser

The Wall Street Journal (one of our favourite places to 'hang out' online) has compiled this list of "best duty" questions to ask your financial adviser. Although very American it is thought provoking none-the-less and in our view Australian Advisers should be just as happy to answer a similar set of questions with context - I know we are! Please note both the questions and answers are from the original Wall Street Journal Article (using the American context). THE 19 QUESTIONS [...]

2019-07-31T00:53:04+09:30September 28th, 2017|Finance, Investment, More than just Finance|

Weekly Market Update – 26th May 2017

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Share markets rose over the last week, reversing the Trump FBI/Russia Bump from the previous week as investors bought the dip supported by mostly good economic and profit news. US shares rose 1.4%, Eurozone shares rose 0.04%, Japanese shares gained 0.5%, Chinese shares rose 2.3% and Australian shares gained 0.4%. The gains in Australian shares were constrained by ongoing worries about the banks, retail shares and weakness in the iron ore price. [...]

2020-07-08T06:28:42+09:30May 31st, 2017|Investment, Market Update|

US Election 2016: Trump Wins. How Markets will React?

How Markets will React: A Short, Medium and Long Term View. Keeping an eye on the short term While there was a quick selloff at first signs of a conclusion to the U.S. elections, and markets seem to have recovered quickly, there still may be some near-term volatility. As with many geopolitical events that generate market swings, the first priority is to rationally evaluate your chosen investment strategy. Review your primary market indicators (we use cycle, value and sentiment), consult your [...]

2020-07-08T06:29:05+09:30November 10th, 2016|Investment, Market Update, The FinSec View|

Federal Budget 2016/17 Our Verdict: The Less is More Budget

Scott Morrison's maiden budget speech was the first since Peter Costello's debut 20 years ago that did not include the word 'surplus' an unreported, but perhaps telling, fact. It is no secret that the 2016 Federal Budget made negligible progress on improving Australia's bottom line. Projecting a small surplus way out in 2020/21 it has experts concerned about the future of Australia's AAA credit rating. But, to its credit, this pre-election budget didn't make things worse. Debt accumulation seems to be [...]

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