Investment
Time for a review of financial position
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 | Business, Economy, Investment | No Comments
The lull after Christmas and New Year always seems to be an fitting time to review an investment portfolio, and with the rollercoaster we have witnessed in global and Australian financial markets over the past 18 months a review may be even more overdue. It’s worth periodically looking at asset allocation – both to asset classes and within asset classes – which may have deviated from your initial plan with the volatility. It may be an appropriate time to question whether your financial adviser adding sufficient value to justify the fees you are paying. Though the collective weight of the recommendations of the Ripoll, Cooper and Henry Reviews may bring about the removal of adviser commissions in the longer term, the volume of information available on the internet already makes it easier for investors to do their own research and manage their own portfolio if they wish to do so. More broadly, with bank interest rates rising quicker than official RBA cash rates a comparison of the home loan products and rates available to determine whether a current home loan is still the most suitable may also prove to be warranted. To Business Dust readers: all the best for 2010!
The End of Financial Year
Thursday, June 18th, 2009 | Business, Economy, Investment | 1 Comment
The all important End of Financial Year – in capitals – is a little under two weeks away, but working in financial industry you could be forgiven for forgetting this. Sure, the predicable structured investments from the usual suspects are once again available (it must be surprising to anyone in the industry that these brands are remain brands worth promoting, but pleasantly so for anyone selling, and let’s face it, few are more than salesmen). Cynical? But I’m going to conveniently steer away from the [meaningless] adviser remuneration debate that is currently raging in Australia, at least until my next post or when I next can’t think of anything else to post about. So, back to the eerily quiet end of financial year – maybe investors are still wary of the fluctuating sharemarket, or are understandably turned off by the naïve meddling of the Rudd Government. Adverse changes inevitably affect confidence in superannuation, especially given it is a long term nature and repeated government changes. The word counterproductive comes to mind – have we forgotten that an aging population makes saving for retirement essential on the agenda? The other staple end of financial year recommendation for advisers (for which, incidentally, I am not one) – margin lending – is undeniably a bad word. Either way, for an observer in the financial industry, it’s dull.