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22 April 2025
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Inside view from top of CBA, retrospective tax, RCR collapse lessons, conflicted awards for funds, acquisition value, fintechs, advisers and seniors.
The Commonwealth Bank's reputation has taken a battering at the Royal Commission, and a veteran of 13 years on the top table of the Bank's Executive Committee explains what went wrong and where we should head.
Companies always boast the synergies and growth prospects of acquisitions, but dig a little deeper with these questions and you might see why most of these deals fail to add value when finally bedded down.
One person's unjust retrospective policy change is another's overdue and necessary reform. Did people objecting about unfavourable policy retrospectivity complain when they benefitted from a retrospective change?
Large companies supported and promoted by investment managers, brokers, analysts and investment banks have disappeared quickly sometimes. Retail investors should manage equity risk by diversification.
A major publisher has discontinued a high-profile fund manager award due to short termism and the conflict of fund managers contributing to the revenues of the agencies doing the ratings.
Fintechs want to inject themselves between banks and their customers in the most profitable areas. Most will fail but others will chip away and the banks must respond, while the regulators keep a close watch.
Most financial advisers will say they have faced an increased level of scrutiny from clients due to the Royal Commission. The test is how the industry wins back trust.
The intergenerational wealth transfer, largely driven by a housing boom, exacerbates economic inequality, stifles productivity, and impedes social mobility. Solutions lie in addressing the housing problem, not taxing wealth.
With an election due by 17 May, we are effectively in campaign mode with the Government announcing numerous spending promises since January and the Coalition often matching them. Here's what the election means for investors.
With fixed term deposit rates declining and bank hybrids being phased out, what are the best options for investors seeking income? This goes through the choices, and the opportunities and risks involved.
The S&P 500's recent correction raises concerns about a bear market. History shows corrections are driven by high rates, unemployment, or global shocks, and that there's reason for optimism for nervous investors today.
The famed investor says the rapid switch from globalisation to trade wars is the biggest upheaval in the investing environment since World War Two. And a new world requires a different investment approach.
Trump's tariffs and China's retaliatory strike have sent the Nasdaq into a bear market with the S&P 500 not far behind. What are the implications for the economy and markets, and what should investors do now?