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23 December 2024
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Since the rise of ETFs, there has been a focus on fees. Yet, investors should also understand the different indices that funds are benchmarked against and the ETF managers because these too can impact investment outcomes.
Thanks to the 'Magnificent Seven' stocks, global passive investors thrashed most active peers in 2023. But there's a hitch: these investors' portfolios are now concentrated in the most overvalued segment of the market.
Fund managers have more staff, more information, and more access to companies, yet individual investors have one advantage in their favour. Anyone selecting a manager should consider such constraints on performance.
In designing rules to protect investors, ASIC prevents reinvestment in products some people have held for years, even when investors qualify as 'wholesale'. How can ASIC change the rules to correct the imbalance?
Australian retail investors appear pessimistic about the market outlook with cash allocations at record highs. Those buying prefer materials and energy stocks, while fallen angels such as Magellan are out of favour.
Smart beta funds are based on predetermined factors or investment methodologies, not stock selections by fund managers. The funds are transparent and rules-based, usually at a cheaper cost than active managers.
Treasury has conducted a post-implementation review of the banning of stamping fees paid by product issuers to brokers and advisers. The Australian Shareholders' Association does not support the banning.
Both passive investing and ETFs have withstood criticism as their popularity has grown. They have been blamed for causing bubbles, distorting the market, and concentrating share ownership. Are any of these criticisms valid?
Individual investors think professionals have ‘smart money’ advantages enjoyed on the inside. While some perks are worthwhile, others are a rort, and overall, it's easier to invest with the freedom of ‘small money’.
Conservative investors who want the greater capital security of bonds can now lock in 5% but they should stay at the higher end of credit quality. Rises in rates and defaults mean it's not as easy as it looks.
If you thought fund managers were banned from paying commissions to financial advisers and brokers to prevent conflicts of interest, you have not kept up with the move to classify clients as wholesale investors.
Major changes are underway in the methods used to distribute bank hybrids. Investor cannot rely on the previous ways of buying hybrids at IPO and now must be 'sophisticated', react quickly and know a broker.
It’s with heavy hearts that we announce Firstlinks’ co-founder and former Managing Editor, Graham Hand, has died aged 66. Graham was a legendary figure in the finance industry and here are three tributes to him.
Last year, I wrote an article suggesting returns from ASX stocks would trample those from housing over the next decade. One year later, this is an update on how that forecast is going and what's changed since.
Australia is in the early throes of an intergenerational wealth transfer worth an estimated $3.5 trillion. Here's a case study highlighting some of the challenges with transferring wealth between generations.
The Future Fund's original purpose was to meet the unfunded liabilities of Commonwealth defined benefit schemes. These liabilities have ballooned to an estimated $290 billion and taxpayers continue to be treated like fools.
ASFA provides a key guide for how much you will need to live on in retirement. Unfortunately it has many deficiencies, and the averages don't tell the full story of the growing gender superannuation gap.
The Big Four banks have had an extraordinary run and it’s left income investors with a conundrum: to stick with them even though they now offer relatively low dividend yields and limited growth prospects or to look elsewhere.