Scam alert: Fake bill and loan discounts

  • ASIC is alerting investors about an impersonation scam using email and cold calling tactics

  • Scammers are making fake offers of 30% discounts on bills and loan repayments

  • Unless you are dealing directly with the service provider, discount billing and upfront payment offers are often scams.

Scammers are using free email services to falsely impersonate a registered company to make fake discount offers on bills and loan repayments. Discount offers from third parties are often fake, especially when they make the offers by cold calling you.

Click here to read more.

What motivates people to become financial planners?

What motivates people to become financial planners?

A key challenge facing the Profession is the recruitment of the next generation of planners. Central to recruiting more professionals is understanding what motivates individuals to become planners in the first place.  In a recent article titled “Factors influencing the Motivation to Pursue a Career in Financial Planning” published by the Financial Planning Research Journal, Michelle Cull, Csilla Skultety and Ryan Kumar from Western Sydney University undertook research to understand the answer to this question.

Click here to read the full article

Importance of General Life Insurance

Risks such as accidents, calamities and medical emergencies can change your life, leaving you with debt and losses.

For example, if a fire damages your home, you must use your savings to rebuild or seek help from friends and family if the house isn’t insured.

Such uncertainties are why you must protect yourself and your property with general insurance. General insurance policies protect you from losses if a risk covered by your policy happens.

Read full article here

Oliver's Insights – Seven reasons why Australian shares are likely to outperform global shares over the medium term

Key points

- The underperformance of Australian versus global shares since 2009 reflects a combination of tighter monetary policy, the strong $A into 2011, the slump in commodity prices, property crash phobia and classic mean reversion.

- Australia’s performance is much better if dividends are allowed for, but it has still underperformed since 2009.

- With the prior outperformance in the 2000s resources boom now reversed there is good reason to expect Australian shares to outperform over the next 5-10 years.

Read full article here

5 Things to do as you plan for the year ahead

People typically associate the new year with hope — a time for fulfilling plans, whether those are financial, personal or professional.

The past year is finally over and you can now look forward to what the new year has in store. While it’s also possible things won’t be so different from the last, you still need to plan for the year ahead. Why?

Read full article

Oliver's Insights – Review of 2022, outlook for 2023. Expect a rough ride but ultimately better returns

Key Points

  • - 2022 was dominated by high inflation, rising interest rates, war in Ukraine & recession fears. This hit bonds & shares hard, driving losses for balanced growth super funds.

  • - 2023 is likely to remain volatile and a retest of 2022 lows for shares is a high risk. But easing inflation, central banks getting off the brakes (with the RBA at or close to the peak on rates), economic growth likely stronger than feared & improved valuations should make for better returns.

  • - Australian residential property prices likely have more downside, ahead of a September quarter low.

  • - The main things to keep an eye on are: inflation; central banks and interest rates; US politics; China tensions; and Australian residential property prices.

Read full article here

Superannuation scams

How to spot the signs and Protect yourself from super scams

  • Phishing scams for your personal details

  • Encourage you to open a self-managed super fund

  • Offer to get access to your super early

  • Check your balance and contact details

  • Update your account security

  • Contact your superannuation fund directly

  • Know the rules about your super

  • Speak to someone you trust

  • Don't deal with anyone who is not licensed

  • Take steps to stop identity theft

Please read full article here

Oliver’s insights – medium term inflation pressures & implications for investors

Key points

– The surge in inflation should start to reverse next year

– However, five structural trends suggest higher medium term inflation pressures than pre-pandemic. These are: a move away from economic rationalist policies; the reversal of globalisation; rising defence spending; climate change & decarbonisation; & a fall in workers versus consumers

– This will likely constrain medium term investment returns compared to the pre pandemic years

Read Full article here

Oliver's Insights – The home price slump continued in November, with still more to go

Key points

- Australian national average home prices fell another 1% in November and are now down by 6.9% from their high, having seen their steepest fall in the last forty years.

- Rising mortgage rates are the main driver of the slump and there is likely more to go. Since April a buyer on average full-time earnings with a 20% deposit has seen a 25% decline in their home buying power.

- While the time taken to save a 20% deposit to buy a home in Australia has fallen, it’s still double mid-1990s levels.

- We continue to expect a 15-20% top to bottom fall in home prices out to the September quarter next year, as the full impact of rate hikes flows through and as economic conditions slow sharply into next year resulting in rising unemployment, followed by a gradual recovery.

Read full article here

Oliver's Insights – Five medium term inflation pressures and implications for investors

Key points

- The surge in inflation should start to reverse next year

- However, five structural trends suggest higher medium term inflation pressures than pre-pandemic. These are: a move away from economic rationalist policies; the reversal of globalisation; rising defence spending; climate change & decarbonisation; & a fall in workers versus consumers

- This will likely constrain medium term investment returns compared to the pre pandemic years

Read Full Article

Risk-Off, Yield-On

With interest rates higher amid a challenging macro environment, we see a compelling case for bond allocations and are cautious about higher-risk investments.

  • We believe caution is warranted during a period of elevated inflation and an economic slowdown. And yet, the volatility in financial markets over the course of 2022 has created attractive investment opportunities, in our view

  • .We see a compelling case for bonds. Alongside what we see as attractive yield potential, fixed income also looks favorable from a macroeconomic perspective – bonds historically tend to be resilient in a recession.

  • We believe investors should be thoughtful and selective when approaching investments in equities, real assets, and other higher-risk markets. We assess a range of market and macro factors to inform our thinking on when and how to re-engage more broadly with risk assets.

Red full article here