Active ETFs – growth path or garden path?
One of the notable features of a managed funds industry under pressure has been a rotation towards the listed environment. Key aspects of this rotation have included migration by investors and planners from equity funds to direct shares, SMAs, equity models, and ETFs. Coming up fast behind this is the ASX’s AQUA II operating environment, […]
Read more...New financial year – some thoughts for 2012/13
Welcome back from winter holidays, and strap yourself in for a no doubt eventful new financial year in wealth management. The holidays coincided with young Tom Baker turning 18, which caused me to think about the wealth management industry in 1994, and what we can learn. It’s strikingly similarity in terms of prevailing business conditions; […]
Read more...Not very PC – MySuper as an awards buster?
We’ve never been fans of MySuper. As blueprint for a low cost default option for compulsory contributions, it has always seemed a largely pointless duplication of what already existed. This view is reinforced by the absence of widespread product development to build new MySuper products. By and large, not-for-profits are simply rebranding their existing defaults […]
Read more...How to make $30 million from SMSFs
One of the interesting aspects of the rise of SMSFs is how it has allowed non-traditional players to enter the wealth management industry, and to make a lot of money in the process. These entrants include everyone from accountants to real estate agents to art galleries. My sister works in bullion dealing, and SMSFs are […]
Read more...Auto-consolidation: super funds need marketing alpha too
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been presenting at the FEAL June lunch series on the commercial impacts of Stronger Super. While the best known of the Stronger Super reforms is MySuper, it’s probably not the most important in terms of long term impact. The Stronger Super reform which will really transform the super […]
Read more...Active equities: how’s your marketing alpha?
Today’s chart, prepared by our analyst Michael Toh, shows the depths of the misery in the active equity funds business. The chart shows launches of new funds and average assets per fund; and we have removed the market effect from average assets to give a better sense of investor movement. Although neither measure is perfect, […]
Read more...Rethinking active equities businesses
These are tough days for active equities funds managers. The announcement last week of another closure of a fundamental equities business was the latest in an extended period of retrenchment in active Australian equities. This is not just an Australian phenomenon – you can see it happening in domestic equities in other major asset management […]
Read more...SMSFs and the F word
No, not that F word. The F word we’re talking about regarding SMSFs is fraud. It’s hard to imagine why anyone robs banks anymore. By comparison SMSFs offer a $400 billion prize, they are a soft target, and the chance of being caught is small. Fraud is one of the hidden risks and costs of […]
Read more...Beyond the Budget – 250,000 investors needing solutions
Despite the increase in the SG to 12%, the attractiveness of super has been on a slippery slope since the election of the ALP government. From the halving of concessional contribution limits and ad hoc pauses in limit indexation, through to the Federal Budget doubling contributions tax for high income earners and delaying contribution limit […]
Read more...The battle for 5%: can the Wall of Money stand?
With a surprise 50bps cut in interest rates, and official rates now 3.75%, the question many are asking is how long the Wall of Money can stand. The Wall of Money was a concept we first discussed in late 2010 – the excess of deposit creation in the banking system over the long term trend. […]
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