Demand for tax-effective investment drives product innovation

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Tax-effective investing outside of super just got better, with the creation of three new investment bond funds by investment bond specialist, Centuria Life Limited (Centuria). Describing the new funds, Neil... Read more continue reading

Australian retirees should consider moving overseas to maximise retirement prospects

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The question of how Australia is going to fund Baby Boomer retirement is the ‘elephant in the room’ in Australian politics and far from being a uniquely Australian issue, it... Read more continue reading

Why it isn’t a case of active vs passive

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The investment marketplace in Australia is characterised by preference debates, where adherents of one school of thought battle it out with those of another – think property versus shares, domestic... Read more continue reading

AIA Australia launches Business Growth Hub and new app for advisers

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Leading life insurer AIA Australia has announced the launch of a dedicated Business Growth Hub for advisers, a key pillar of its trusted business partner model. Available online and through AIA... Read more continue reading

ATO confirms deadline for SMSFs with non-commercial LRBAs

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The ATO has effectively given SMSFs with non-commercial LRBAs a period of grace to either restructure the terms of the arrangement so that they are on commercial terms or to... Read more continue reading

Asia: Sound fundamentals suggest no repeat 1997–1998 crisis

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While Asian currencies have been quite unstable in recent months, comparisons with the Asian Financial Crisis are over the top, in our view. External positions of the region’s economies are in a... Read more continue reading

Fractionalised property investing

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Welcome to the third in the series of papers addressing an alternate method of building property into portfolios. (Read part one here and part two here). This paper takes an... Read more continue reading

Life insurers profits up but you still pay more

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The recent reporting season has revealed that, despite crying poor, life insurers’ profits are still increasing, according to lifeinsurancedirect.com.au. LifeInsuranceDirect.com.au CEO Russell Cain said, “AMP reported one of the highest... Read more continue reading

China’s policies and fundamentals converge

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Given all the negative commentary about China at the moment, it’s difficult for many investors to get a balanced perspective on the risks and opportunities there. Our bottom-up research, however,... Read more continue reading

Big end of town ignoring key person risk

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Sydney-based financial planning company, CSP has just written a $60 million key person insurance policy – believed to be the largest in Australian history – for a global corporation entering... Read more continue reading