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22 July 2024
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Chris Cuffe on company engagement; write-offs, tangibles and intangibles; ATO surveillance of SMSFs; wagering and financial services; and characteristics of skilled managers.
SMSFs are being targeted by property marketers, but is a single, illiquid investment a good super strategy, with its associated leverage? ASIC is worried SMSF trustees are not seeing the full picture, so we went looking.
Don’t judge the extent to which institutional investors influence listed companies by the big public event, the AGM. Private meetings with executives of listed companies are ongoing and lively.
If high levels of intangibles are not written down by the auditors – even after years of generating mediocre returns – the market will often do the writing down for them. Either way, shareholders receive lousy returns.
The ATO will step up surveillance of SMSFs in 2013/14, and trustees need to ensure their fund is compliant. There are rules around the acquisition of assets, especially related party transactions.
There are insightful parallels between the bookmaking industry and the financial services sector, and it would help if market analysts and fund researchers assigned odds to their predictions.
The key to good investing is knowing when the odds are in your favour, and equally important, knowing how to apply that edge. With experience, it should give the confidence to run more concentrated portfolios.
There seems to be more confusion than clarity about the mechanics of how the new $3 million super tax is supposed to work. Here is an attempt to answer some of the questions from my previous work on the issue.
Here are 10 rules for staying happy and sharp as we age, including socialise a lot, never retire, learn a demanding skill, practice gratitude, play video games (specific ones), and be sure to reminisce.
A new report suggests Australian housing is twice as expensive as that of the US and UK on a price-to-income basis. It also reveals that it’s cheaper to live in New York than most of our capital cities.
The discounts on listed investment vehicles are at historically wide levels. There are lots of reasons given, including size and liquidity, yet there's a better explanation for the discounts, and why a rebound may be near.
The best way to lose money in markets is to chase the latest stock fad. Conversely, the best way to build wealth is by pursuing a timeless investment strategy that won’t be swayed by short-term market gyrations.
The life expectancy tables used throughout the financial advice and retirement industry have issues and you need to prepare for the possibility of living a lot longer than you might have thought. Plan accordingly.