Strategy

Planning one’s legacy involves a series of strategic decisions to protect and distribute assets efficiently – and with a record $3.5 trillion set to change hands over the coming decade, it’s key to Australia’s future financial security. Here, we explore tips to help investors optimise their wealth transfer outcomes.

Absolute-return bond strategies should perform even in down markets, but a Morningstar report shows most failed to meet their own performance targets in a rocky 2022. However, as an alternative to traditional fixed income, these strategies still provide the defensive correlation, the research firm argues.

The bond market has never had great investment appeal for Australia’s self-managed superannuation funds, but with rising yields improving their proposition, some observers say the investment tide may be coming in for fixed interest.

A key consideration for SMSF members is how their retirement will impact their fund’s investment strategy. To navigate these tricky waters, members must plan around long-term needs, and input from experts can help prevent costly mistakes, according to Accurium principal Melanie Dunn.

In 2016 the number of SMSFs with at least 90 per cent of assets in a single investment class was 30.7 per cent. In the latest annual release that number has improved only marginally to 27.7 per cent.

The term “hold on for dear life” came to explain the events of 2020 and 2021, as did “buy the dip.” For those beginning investing for the first time, their experience couldn’t have been more positive. Every fall in the market was followed by another rally, and the prevailing view was that markets always go up if your holding period is long enough.

Australians are the richest they have ever been, with wealth pushed up by rising property and shares values to a record $14.9 trillion in the March quarter of 2022, while wealth per capita surged to a record high of $574,807, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

White noise is broadly defined as the combination of sounds of all different frequencies together, typically being used to mask other sounds. Among the most common uses of white noise is to help babies (and adults) sleep without background noise. Whilst highly powerful for this purpose, one could easily make the opposite conclusion when it…

A bounce in share markets in March supported superannuation fund performance in the first quarter of 2022. However, with inflation concerns mounting, global share markets remain volatile, including the hard US share market, which is likely to dent superannuation returns for the current financial year.  Superannuation research house SuperRatings found the median balanced option rose…

Among the Federal Budget proposals that received the least fanfare was the extension of the ‘temporary’ relief on the minimum drawdowns for account-based pensions. Whilst the media attention on the legislative change immediately highlights the fact that it benefits the wealthy more than the rest, it affords an entire generation of Australians greater flexibility. Few…

Australian super funds continued their incredible run of positive investment returns, with the median growth industry fund recording a double digit return once again. This markets the tenth straight year of positive results from the sector, and superannuation in general, that is central to funding the retirement of all Australians. Given the predictions of doom…

Most people are well aware of the many benefits of family trust and self-managed super fund (SMSF) structures, but less so about the potential drawbacks. That is something reflected in the surge in legal disputes between trustees of both structures thus far in 2021, according to Marie Brownell, national manager of estate planning at Equity…