Technology

Entering 2021, financial advisers and investors are facing many challenges when it comes to managing their portfolios. On the one hand, low interest rates and quantitative easing policies have all but removed the diversification and income benefits of traditional fixed-income investments. On the other hand, the same policies have sent equity markets back to pre-pandemic…

Evergreen Consultants, founded by experienced consultant Angela Ashton, this week launched an industry leading stress testing program for financial advisers. It is said to be the first of its kind made available in the ‘retail market’ and is available to Evergreen clients via their proprietary GreenVUE reporting platform. The launch comes after the most volatile…

Following on from The Inside Network’s MDA Feature – 2020 round-up article published earlier this week, we received an influx of communication around the many managed accounts not included on the list. According to the Institute of Managed Account Professionals (IMAP), funds under management (FUM) for managed accounts in Australia stood at $79.9 billion at…

Milestone Group has extended the rollout of its new pControl asset allocation offering to Asia-Pacific to service increasing demand due to greater complexities of front and middle-office requirements in the use of funds-of-funds and other third-party investment structures. The ‘pControl Asset Allocation’ product is based on the platform built by the Australian-bred global group’s pControl…

The shift towards non-aligned platform advice forced structural change within the wealth management that was long overdue. Findings from the Royal Banking Commission helped drive the push towards independent platforms and product providers because of their renewed client focus. New technology-based platforms have allowed financial advisers the ability to hold, transact and administer on a…

Managed Discretionary Accounts (MDAs) are a relatively new investment solution available to consumers and financial advisers following recent advances in platform technology. MDAs are constantly evolving and are at a point where advisers can offer clients a broad range of investment assets while clients have complete visibility of the investments held in their portfolio. According…

Map My Plan is the all-in-one ‘digital’ financial planner that does it all. Founded in 2014 by Paul Feeny, Map My Plan is a platform that doesn’t attempt to replace the skill and experience of a financial planner, but intends to service the “80 per cent of unadvised Australians” that don’t have a financial planner…

Here’s the fourth instalment of our series on the fascinating ASX cohort of medical device developers. ImpediMed (IPD, 8.1 cents)Market capitalisation: $83.8 millionThree-year total return: -52.7% a yearAnalysts’ consensus target price: 14 cents (Thomson Reuters) You would not know it from the share price performance over the last few years, but Brisbane-based ImpediMed has put…

Video games have traditionally been associated with laziness, requiring someone to stay at home in a dark room when they could be doing more ‘productive’ things with their lives. How things have changed! The 2019 Fortnite World Championships attracted 40 million entrants chasing a US$30 million ($41 million) prize pool, with the finals televised in…

The SMSF Association have launched a comprehensive series of online modules as they seek to evolve the delivery of the SMSF Specialist Advisery (SSA) designation. The highly coveted designation requires an extensive amount of knowledge across taxation and superannuation law, which has traditionally been delivered through short study guides culminating in a detailed examination. The…

Financial advisers around the world are rightly concerned about the state of markets, with record-high prices for both equities and bonds. As previously reported, according to an Investment Trends survey of Australian investors, there has been a jump in the frequency of communications between advisers and their clients in Australia since COVID-19 hit home in…

Retailers at all-time highs, market to open strongly as tech rally continues The ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) fell another 0.8% today, as weaker than expected earnings result and more pessimistic view from the US Federal Reserve impacted sentiment. Most weakness came from the healthcare and financial sectors, representing a substantial portion of the market, however, the…