Home / Opinion / An interview with Michael Rees-Evans

An interview with Michael Rees-Evans

Opinion

This week we caught up with Michael Rees-Evans of Libertas Wealth Consulting. Michael has an impressive career spanning big business and boutique, spending time with Price Waterhouse and Accenture as a management consultant before embarking on a career in financial advice in 2002 with Hillross. Today he leads Libertas Wealth Consulting in Lane Cove.

We get started with some personal questions to find out what makes Michael tick:

Michael, what was your favourite weekend activity in lockdown?
A voracious appetite for reading when not walking the family dog.

  • Favourite holiday destination?
    Close to home on the NSW South Coast.

    The first thing Michael will do post lockdown?
    Jumping in a rowing boat and getting back out with his crew; Michael is a keen sportsman.

    In the world of e-commerce, do you still prefer bricks and mortar?
    It’s online for Michael.

    On Australia, Michael is most positive about our weather and generally positive outlook.

    And Michael’s four dream dinner guests?
    Winston Churchill, Boris Johnson, Tony Abbott and John Howard; a very political affair!

    Moving to Michael’s investment philosophy, he summarises it as “market works, but costs matter,” so be selective in choosing active managers and ensure they are adding value. 

    Michael’s preferred investment vehicle is the low-cost ETF. And he highlights the important of both asset allocation and rebalancing regularly as the most important investment recommendation ever made.

    On the prospects of financial Armageddon, he suggests gold bullion as the saving grace and is growing a little concerned with the irrational exuberance that has anchored past returns into the future.

    Michael’s views on the best Australian and global stocks, if he could only hold one, for the next decade:

    In Australia, it’s Woolworths (ASX:WOW) on the basis that we will always need food, “come boom or bust,”‘ as evidenced by the pandemic.

    Looking globally, it’s Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) as it is incredibly well run and has shown the ability to quickly shift its business model to now enjoy an annuity-style income.

    The Inside Adviser


    Related
    Advice fees still hinge on FUM, but the future may well be flexibility

    Clients have a right to know how advisers justify a fee of $15,000 per year when the investment income on a $1.5 million portfolio is only $75,000, says Drew Meredith. Maybe they should also have a hand in deciding how the fee is calculated.

    Drew Meredith | 4th Mar 2024 | More
    Iress’ big loss on OneVue deal caps five years of platform bloodletting

    It’s a spectacular transaction, one that marks not only the likely nadir of Iress but what should be the end of five very frothy years of M&A activity in the investment platform space.

    Tahn Sharpe | 26th Feb 2024 | More
    Grumbles over Evidentia deal highlight growing pains in the rise of asset consultant cohort

    An evolutionary leap in the retail investment product landscape is taking place, with asset consultants displacing financial advisers across rich corners of the value chain. Scarcity Partners’ big bet on Evidentia, and how it’s being received, brings into focus just how seismic the shift really is.

    Tahn Sharpe | 8th Feb 2024 | More
    Popular
  • Popular posts: