wattle partners

The quantum of licensees may be growing, but none of that growth is coming from the big end of town. Advice groups are increasingly eschewing larger groups and pursuing autonomy in the way they run their practice.

Despite the emotional expenditure required to hold someone’s hand in the darkest hours of their life, whilst retaining a high degree of professional acumen, it is both a responsibility and an honour. But it can leave a scar, writes Drew Meredith.

Interest rates were never meant to be so low for so long. Wattle Partners principal Drew Meredith ponders whether the hangover has some investors lagging; are too many hanging onto risky assets, when low-risk returns are so easy to find?

Investors and advisers have a tendency to extrapolate recent events into the future, and the last six months have shown how dangerous this can be. For those reviewing and building portfolios as the new financial year begins, five key issues should be front of mind.

The popular debate lacks nuance. Neither are foolproof but both can play a crucial role in building portfolio resistance and balancing the risk/reward dynamic.

Ever since the GFC interest rates around the world have been on a trajectory to zero, which acted as a proxy tax on investing for retirement for millions. But the current economic is a whole new ball game, writes Drew Meredith.

Australia may have fared better than its international peers, but markets still took a pummelling in 2022 with traditional safe havens and equities alike bearing the brunt in a wildly dislocated market.

Being independent used to be enough to attract new clients, says Wattle Partners’ Drew Meredith. Today, they are increasingly demanding alignment with their own values.

All advisers have a role to play in the transition to ESG, and it will be a spectrum of outcomes rather than a binary one. One thing we cannot forget, however, is the powerful role that capital flows can have on creating change.

The inability of major casino operators – and many other ‘respected’ professions – to run a clean sheet is galling for an advice industry beset with stifling levels of regulation.