You could be forgiven for thinking 2020 was a difficult year for property investors. The onset of the pandemic impacting all asset classes in unforeseen ways, no more so than property. As we have seen in other asset classes, there is still little certainty in what lies ahead beyond lockdowns, social distancing and the reopening…
Coalition Senator Andrew Bragg has been outspoken in his concerns about the growing power of the industry (or union) superannuation sector. Between himself and fellow Coalition member Tim Wilson MP, they are singlehandedly putting the blowtorch on a sector that avoided the worst of the Royal Commission. In a paper this week titled Competition for…
The 2010s was somewhat of a torrid time for the hedge fund sector, as the pressure for lower costs and more transparency collided with a period of weaker returns. Institutional research consultant bfinance this week published a white paper, titled “How to build a hedge fund portfolio,” that offers some unique institutional insights for the…
The easiest call to make in 2021 is that the market is overvalued, or for those preferring hyperbole, suggest that everything is in a ‘bubble’. Whilst there is no doubt some assets and stocks that are trading well above their fair value, to suggest that everything is overvalued may well be a stretch. It’s an…
It’s a wonder that financial advisers have much time to actually provide advice to their clients in 2021. Following a whirlwind of regulatory changes, education requirements, platform outages and increased reporting, more time than ever is being spent on compliance. The latest in the string of regulatory changes is the “Design and Distribution Obligations,” or…
Listening into a webinar this week, there was an extensive discussion about the fact that very few, if any, financial advisers in the industry are pricing their clients appropriately. The theme of the discussion may well be right; however, the fact that it was delivered by a number of ‘experts’ who were unlikely to have…
High-net-worth (HNW) investors are the holy grail for any competent financial adviser. These are typically educated, experienced professionals and business owners who are seeking to establish long-term relationships and trust the adviser as an expert. Naturally, attracting these clients to your firm consistently is highly competitive and extremely difficult. As is typically the case, despite…
It has been a difficult few years, or perhaps decades, for forecasters of all kinds. Whether it was election polling that failed to predict both Trump’s and Morrison’s stunning wins, or the UK’s Brexit; spiralling coronavirus case numbers; or those calling for massive property market and economic pain throughout 2020, the end result was the…
“If something is free, you are the product” This quote attributed to sculptor Richard Serra in 1973 was well ahead of its time, but offers a unique insight into the evolution of financial markets in the 2020’s. Just last week we witnessed the initial public offering of Robinhood Markets, a platform made popular for ‘zero…
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Looking back at the events of the last 18 months, it becomes abundantly clear what actions both investment advisers and fund managers should have taken, yet this offers little in the way of insights into the future. As it stands today, almost every active fund managers should have delivered 20%+…
