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INSIGHTS

Market Trends: Fears of a Global Recession Fading Fast Market fears of a global recession anytime soon are now all but eradicated. Resilient US economic growth, hopes of a broadening in global growth ...

22 April, 2024

Market Trends: Shares rally, but valuations look stretched Easing fears of a global recession remained the major global market theme in February, with the US Federal Reserve signalling the next move i...

16 April, 2024

Why It Can Pay To Put As Much As Possible Into Super As the retirement day of reckoning looms, it’s common for Australians of a certain age to regret not putting more into their super earlier on. Wh...

22 February, 2024

Waiting for a cut Defensive assets returns were flat in January, reflecting muted cash and Australian bond returns, and a small decline in global bond returns. Gold prices also eased a little. The maj...

22 February, 2024

What to expect from the property market in 2024 For housing, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether the property price gains seen in 2023 will continue in 2024. While there are many unce...

31 January, 2024

What to expect from markets and the economy in 2024 Having enjoyed a better than feared consumer-led recovery from COVID lockdowns, Australia’s economy in recent years has quickly been beset by a ne...

31 January, 2024

Understanding Private Debt: A Strategic Component of Investment Portfolios In the realm of investment strategies, private debt has gained significant attention and prominence among discerning investor...

30 November, 2023

The Top 5 Investment Lessons from Charlie Munger Charles “Charlie” Munger, the esteemed Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and a significant figure in the world of investments passed away recentl...

30 November, 2023

Yielding to yields Both defensive and growth assets weakened further in October, reflecting another solid increase in global bond yields. The Hamas attack on Israel was a major development in the mont...

30 November, 2023

WHAT IS A BOND? At their most basic level, bonds are a way for one entity to raise money by borrowing from another. For example, governments and corporations issue bonds to raise money from investors ...

24 October, 2023

Higher for longer Market Overview Both defensive and growth assets weakened in September, reflecting a strong further increase in global bond yields. In turn, this reflected resilient global economic ...

23 October, 2023

Easing recession risk suggests the worst may be behind us Growth vs defensive assets Growth assets returned 0.5%, marginally beating the 0.3% return from defensive assets. Growth assets have outperf...

05 October, 2023

Innovating Your Financial Future: Introducing Our Partnership with Voyant At FinPeak, our mission is to empower you to make informed and strategic financial decisions. Today, we are thrilled to announ...

25 August, 2023

The Effects of Inflation on Retirees Inflation denotes the overall price surge of goods and services in an economy, diminishing the purchasing power of money. Thus, while planning for retirement, it&#...

25 August, 2023

Easing inflation fuels hopes of soft landing Growth vs defensive assets Global equities rose further in July despite continued upward pressure on bond yields as central banks retained firm policy tigh...

25 August, 2023

Since 2004 The ASFA Retirement Standard has served as Australia’s trusted retirement savings companion, providing a comprehensive breakdown of expenses for both a comfortable and modest lifestyle, f...

21 July, 2023

Recession averted? Global markets The key development over the past week was the weaker-than-expected US CPI result, which has reduced the risk of further aggressive Fed action that ultimately pushe...

21 July, 2023

What is AI? AI, or Artificial Intelligence, is a technology that helps machines understand and learn things, kind of like how humans do. It’s like giving computers the ability to think and make ...

16 June, 2023

Market Trends May: Debt Ceiling Concerns   Market Summary Growth and defensive asset returns were modestly negative in May as rising bond yields and concerns over a potential US debt default weig...

16 June, 2023

Federal Budget May 2023: What it might mean for individuals Overall, the Budget measures are unlikely to have a significant effect from a personal financial advice perspective, and many of the measure...

25 May, 2023

A strong April, but markets remain in a state of flux Market summary Both growth and defensive assets rose in April, with the latter outperforming the former due to moderate gains in both Australian a...

17 May, 2023

Market trends: Australia vs the world   Major asset class performance Hopes of a soft landing for the global economy – with inflation falling without the need for a recession – have supported...

31 March, 2023

Market Trends: Can the US pull off a soft landing?   Global bonds and equities: soft landing hopes boost returns An easing in global inflation and still resilient economic growth – despite aggr...

20 February, 2023

What happened in 2022? The COVID-19 pandemic finally started to become endemic in 2022, though it continued to cause issues in China. Despite this, the past year has been challenging for investors due...

05 January, 2023

ESG investing’ is a broad term that covers a range of activities. ESG itself is an acronym which stands for ‘environmental, social and governance’. So ESG investing is really any investment acti...

05 January, 2023

The slump in home prices continues After surging by 28.6% from their pandemic lows early this year to record highs on the back of record low interest rates, home prices are continuing to plunge on the...

05 January, 2023

Market Trends: pivot hopes return Major asset classes: Equities, bonds and cash Although global bond yields lifted modestly further and forward earnings slipped lower in October, global equities rebou...

30 November, 2022

Inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. It is measured as an annual percentage increase. When inflation rises, every dollar buys a...

30 November, 2022

Market trends: bonds and equities slide further Major asset classes: Equities, bonds and cash Both global bonds and equities fell further in September, with equity returns again weaker than that of bo...

30 November, 2022

Markets have moved with such speed and velocity in both directions since the beginning of the COVID outbreak it has been difficult for investors to adjust with so much conflicting information being ci...

16 September, 2022

Market Trends: Equities and bonds struggle After posting positive returns in July, both global bonds and equities fell back in August, with equity returns marginally weaker than that of bonds. The Blo...

15 September, 2022

Market Trends: Falling yields boost stocks Major asset classes: Equities, bonds and cash Global equities and bonds staged a rebound in July, with both outperforming cash. Emerging signs of weakening g...

26 August, 2022

Global Equity Fundamentals – valuations OK, but earnings now a risk After some consolidation in May, global equities weakened further in June. The MSCI All Country World Index declined by 7.4% in lo...

26 August, 2022

Global equities – stabilisation as bond yields level out Global equities continued to weaken in May, albeit with a smaller drop than evident in April – helped by tentative signs that the lift in g...

26 August, 2022

Global equities – rate fears return Global equity returns dropped back in April as fears of aggressive U.S. interest rate increases, China’s COVID-induced lockdowns and the ongoing war in Ukraine ...

26 August, 2022

Global Equities – March rebound Global equity returns enjoyed a modest 2.6% rebound in March, after a decline of 1.0% in February and a larger 6.1% decline in January. The rebound appears to reflect...

13 April, 2022

Cash injection to provide short-term cost relief We review the Australian Federal government’s 2022/23 budget and assess its implications for Australia’s financial markets. •This is a pro-growth...

01 April, 2022

On 29 March 2022, the Government handed down the 2022-23 Federal Budget. Whilst we know this is a pre-election Budget, with the next Federal election to be held in May 2022, it is possibly not a typic...

01 April, 2022

Key global market moves – war and rates hurt sentiment Global equity prices weakened a further 1.1% in February after a sharp 6.2% decline in January, as persistent global interest rate and inflatio...

31 March, 2022

Key global market moves – rate fears rattle stocks Global equities suffered a sharp fall in January as rising bond yields placed downward pressure on price-to-earnings valuations, especially among g...

31 March, 2022

Despite rising bond yields last year, the strong V-shaped recovery in global equity markets from the COVID crisis of early 2020 largely continued over 2021, powered by ongoing growth in corporate earn...

31 March, 2022

Key global market trends – rates and COVID spark concern Global equities suffered a setback in November reflecting concerns about both the Omicron COVID variant and a hawkish pivot by the U.S. Feder...

31 March, 2022

Global equities rebounded in October – despite a further lift in bond yields – as another strong U.S. corporate earnings reporting season and signs of peaking in the Delta outbreak supported sent...

31 March, 2022

Global equities suffered a setback in September as a rebound in bond yields dragged down still lofty price-to-earnings valuations. The key market development in the month was a more hawkish than expec...

31 March, 2022

Global equities rose 2.6% in August, and the outlook remains encouraging. Global forward earnings accounted for most of the increase in equity prices, rising 1.9%. Despite a renewed wave of global COV...

21 September, 2021

Global equities pushed higher in July, and the outlook remains encouraging. Despite a renewed wave of global COVID cases, rising vaccination rates have meant even fewer are ending up in hospital or dy...

21 September, 2021

An apparent easing of inflation concerns and central bank tightening fears were the major market drivers in June, along with continued progress in the global vaccine rollout and reduction in COVID-rel...

21 September, 2021

The global equity rally continued in May, with the MSCI All-Country World Equity Index returning 1.1% in local currency terms, to be up 38.4% over the year. Global bond yields and the $US eased back f...

20 September, 2021

With June 30 fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about your super for another year. We’ve put together five smart strategies that may benefit you now, and help boost your super. Superann...

31 May, 2021

The global equity rally continued in April, helped by an easing back in global bond yields as central banks reiterated their desire to keep accommodative financial conditions. A weaker $US also helped...

31 May, 2021

Last night the Federal Treasurer, the Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, delivered his third Federal Budget. Here’s a summary of some of the announcements that may impact you. Summary On the personal taxa...

12 May, 2021

Hedging to put simply is to limit your risks and in the context of currency, and for Australian investors, is to use financial instruments such as derivatives to negate the rise and fall of the Austra...

03 May, 2021

Gearing simply means borrowing money to invest. It can be used to enhance the overall returns on your money by allowing you to make a larger investment than would otherwise be possible. The borrowed m...

01 May, 2021

Value still holding up over growth Reflecting the improving economic outlook, global equities continued to move higher in March, though so too did bond yields. Commodity prices, by contrast, corrected...

28 April, 2021

Interest rates – a less orderly increase! After gradually increasing over recent months, long-term bond yields rose more sharply in February, with the U.S. 10-year rate rising 34 basis points (bp) t...

26 March, 2021

For many reasons, women face additional hurdles when it comes to achieving financial freedom. So it’s important to take control of your finances now, and be proactive when it comes to planning your ...

08 March, 2021

In part 1 of this series, we talked about investing in residential property (you can view the post here) now we take a better look at the other side of property investing, commercial property. Commerc...

01 December, 2020

Covid-19 has certainly changed a few aspects of our daily lives and non more so than how we work. According to a study from Roy Morgan, over 4.3 million (32% of working Australians) have been ‘w...

30 November, 2020

Key global trends – equities drop further Global equities eased back for the second month in a row in October as rising COVID-19 cases in Europe and the United States, concern over the lack of new U...

30 November, 2020

Key global trends – equities finally pull back Global equities had their first monthly negative return since bottoming in March, reflecting a shakeout in the high-flying U.S. technology sector. Desp...

26 October, 2020

Investing in property is a huge decision and can be very costly if you get it wrong. The first decision you need to make is: “Are you buying a home to live in or are you buying it as an investme...

26 October, 2020

Key global trends – equity rally continues Global equities continued their V-shaped recovery in August, while the $US continued its decline. In a counter-trend move, perhaps reflecting growing i...

09 September, 2020

The answer is: as soon as you begin working. Too late for that? Remember that saving will be easiest if you start now. Saving for retirement is effectively a balance between your quality of life today...

09 September, 2020

Superannuation Overview Why invest in superannuation? Superannuation is an investment environment designed specifically to help you save for retirement. Knowing what superannuation is and how it works...

01 September, 2020

Key global trends – equity rally continues Despite still-rising COVID-19 cases globally – and signs of a tempering in the economic rebound – the V-shaped global equity recovery continued int...

28 August, 2020

Key global trends – equity rally continues The global equity market recovery continued into June, reflecting a lift in some economic indicators as social distancing restrictions eased and investors ...

17 July, 2020

The importance of diversification Before we discuss the various investment strategies, it’s important to highlight the significance of diversification. Like any type of investment, spreading your s...

16 July, 2020

This article was produced with the help of Resmiac, click here to view the full article. Important information and disclaimer The information provided in this document is general information only and...

18 June, 2020

Key Global Trends – Equity Rally Continues Global equities pushed higher in May, continuing the rebound of the previous month, reflecting ongoing hopes of a speedy return to economic normalcy as...

16 June, 2020

What is it? HomeBuilder provides eligible owner-occupiers (including first home buyers) with a grant of $25,000 to build a new home or substantially renovate an existing home. As the government’...

16 June, 2020

Early access to super – important considerations This is an exceptionally difficult time for many people. Accessing some of your super savings may help you to make ends meet until your circumsta...

20 May, 2020

April was positive for financial markets, with early signs of a momentum based recovery from the bottom of the market in late March. Given the level of market volatility, the extent and speed of the r...

20 May, 2020

Shares or stocks are a popular investment for many investors but can be intimidating when you are starting out. However, to invest successfully, it is important to first understand how investing works...

20 May, 2020

Key Global Trends – equities slump The coronavirus-led ‘risk-off’ trade that started to build in late January continued into March, with the MSCI All-Country World Equity return index declining ...

20 April, 2020

On Monday 23 March 2020, the Australian Federal Parliament passed two coronavirus economic stimulus packages, worth $17.6 billion and $66 billion. Subsequently on 30 March 2020 the Government announce...

20 April, 2020

Smart steps for those with reduced incomes 1. Start with your income and assets There are two sides to budgeting: what you spend and what you earn. If your income has already taken a hit because of th...

20 April, 2020

The economic impact of Coronavirus so far (as at 18.03.20) An update on current market developments Over the last few days, we have seen significant volatility across global financial markets reflecti...

24 March, 2020

Key Global Trends – equities retreat The coronavirus-led ‘risk-off’ trade that started to build in late January continued into February and the early weeks of March. Global equities have reverse...

24 March, 2020

Volatility is an inherent feature of financial markets, so it is important to look through the noise. Markets can be subject to periods of event-related volatility, from events such as economic uncert...

28 February, 2020
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