FIG AVENUE INVESTMENTS

While it is a key driver of compliance needs, technology may also be the main solution to easing compliance burdens...

Decades of market reforms and technological advancements have made the capital markets of today highly transparent and efficient...

There exists an ongoing debate between active equity portfolio management and passive management, with evidence showing that many fund managers regularly underperform their respective benchmarks, after accounting for fees. One thing often overlooked in such analyses is the additional risk awareness that accompanies active management, though incorporating risk measures into performance evaluation can be tricky.

Whilst seemingly being very similar, the words 'systemic' and 'systematic' often mean quite different things. For example, a common term used recently, 'systemic racism', is often confused with 'systematic racism'. In this regard, the former relates to different outcomes for people based on their race, which are generally not due to any explicit system rules or controls (i.e. inherent biases). The latter, on the other hand, would describe a social system that has prejudicial functions embedded into its processes.

The recent past has seen a revolution in the world of money: The rise of cryptocurrencies. This new financial innovation, along with it traditional counterparts issued by sovereign nations, are meant to help facilitate trade involving individuals, corporations and governments. Compared to fiat currencies, which are the primary form of global money, cryptocurrencies are issued by non-government entities. Whilst both form of currencies do not have any physical store of wealth backing their value (e.g. gold), fiat currencies issued by a nation's government are backed by the wealth and resources of the respective countries. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, have no such guarantor, but instead rely solely upon its value as an alternative and secure means of exchange.

In May of 2005, a landscaping business signed the lease on a new building in downtown Fortaleza, the 5th biggest city in Brazil. For 3 months, neighbouring businesses witnessed the landscaping business and their small workforce, ship truckloads of dirt from the building every day, until one morning when it suddenly stopped its operations.

Human behaviour, both individual and in groups, often dictates the trajectory of progression. When an economic system is established well, it can lead to continual growth in wealth and prosperity for society and its constituents. However, in some cases it can lead to a course that is more cyclical in nature; always moving, but never going anywhere.

5 short years ago, Australia had just entered into a free trade agreement with its largest trade partner, China. The UK was enjoying unlimited access to the European continent, and the US was engaged with much of the Pacific in forming the largest free trade agreement in the world, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). By the end of the 2020, most of this international goodwill and trade liberalisation had been significantly diminished.

Throughout the late 20th century, the dominant role of business was to generate profits. The ideals of shareholder primacy meant that company boards and executives were tasked with growing the firm's bottom-line with little regard for other stakeholders to the firm - e.g. employees, suppliers, creditors, etc. However, over the last few decades the importance of managing the interests of all stakeholders, especially those that have little direct voice (such as the environment), has grown substantially.

Every investor understands that there is really no free lunch when it comes to trying to earn a return from an asset. In all financial transactions, any potential reward comes with a level of risk, which is usually in the form of the uncertainty of future earnings. For example, when buying an investment property, there is a number of future cash flows that are uncertain, such as rent (driven by rent increases and vacancy rates), maintenance costs and future sale price.

The state of global politics has been relatively volatile over the past decade. From uprisings in the Arab world to Brexit and Trump, the state of affairs for the world's ruling classes has been turned upside down in multiple regions across the world. Clashes of idealogies, both internally and externally, have continued to rise regardless of a nation's wealth or its success in dealing with the current pandemic. The question of who ultimately decides the fates of the citizens of countries, which often drifts into the realm of conspiracy theory, is vital in understanding the past and future trajectory of the world.

Tensions between neighbouring states and global powers is an age-old phenomenon. Historic grievances, national security needs and the lure of power all conspire to hold back the dream of world peace. With everything else going on in 2020, however, it would be nice if world leaders could all just get along…

It seems that one of the big attractions of investing in property is the notion of tangibility. The fact that you can see, touch and smell the bricks and mortar of an investment property gives an added comfort to owners; as opposed to the feeling of separation felt be owning less direct investments such as shares in a business or units in a managed fund. Private property investment might also offer owners enticing additional returns based on the uniqueness of any particular property and reduced liquidity.

"Of course I am minimising my tax. And if anybody in this country doesn't minimise their tax, they want their heads read, because as a government, I can tell you you're not spending it that well that we should be donating extra!" Kerry Packer

It is well understood that different types of investments would be expected to perform in a variety of ways: For example, shares do well when the economic outlook is looking rosier; property also follows suit but would have less volatility in price movements; bonds do well when interest rates are falling (usually when economies are struggling). These differences provide the rationale for asset allocation techniques that are based on asset classes. Diversification between different types of investments (that perform in contrasting ways throughout the business cycle), is also used to improve overall portfolio performance.

The current health crisis has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands around the world and the shutdown of everyday life. While there may be a slow return to normal over the coming months, it is likely that unemployment will remain high for a lengthy period of time.

In order to raise funds, large businesses and governments can borrow from creditors, and in the case of business, can seek equity capital. The former fundraising process involves the debtor entering into a contract to provide investors with a rate of interest plus repayment of the debt in full. The latter process involves the business offering investors a percentage of any future distributed profits (and a share of any liquidated assets if the business stops operating).

Up until 2006, the acronym ASX stood for Australian Stock Exchange. After a merger between the country's stock and futures exchanges, the 'S' in ASX become 'Securities' (i.e. Australian Securities Exchange). Today, roughly 3 million shares and other securities are traded on the market on a daily basis.

Many Australians that finished school and entered adulthood around the turn of the century would have been familiar with the adopted label of 'Gen Y'. This was a term used frequently to describe this cohort of society who had grown up in a world quickly changing. As kids, they played on their gaming consoles and had drawers full of VHS tapes and DVDs. By the time they were leaving home, multiplayer online games were becoming the norm and they became the main pioneers of the social media movement. But, over the last decade, generation Y has lost its identity, swallowed up by its successor - the Millennials.

In 1974, farmers in central China were in the process of digging water wells, when they stumbled upon a clay figure. This led to the uncovering of the famous terracotta army, consisting of around 9000 warriors, horses and chariots, all guarding the tomb of the first emperor of unified China. The artefacts had survived, buried for over 2000 years. The size of the emperor's tomb was amazing in its own right, but one of the more peculiar aspects of the ritualistic artwork is that each of the 8000 plus warriors bares a different face. Though there are many similarities between face shapes and expressions, it is believed that no two warriors are the same.

Theoretical physics describes and models the forces that are known to shape our world. Non-physicists would be well aware of 2 of these fundamental forces; gravity and electromagnetism. The former is what keeps our feet firmly planted on the earth and pulls objects together across vast distances of space. The latter is what helps electricity to flow and charged particles to repel or attract.

Technological change is the major driver of long-term productivity and growth in almost all industries. In financial services, and with the advent of the computer, efficiencies in transactions and trust, has seen the finance industry become the largest in the world. Technological advances have seen financial contracts settle instantaneously across the world and market efficiency (transactional costs, price discovery, etc) rapidly grow through complex financial modelling and algorithmic trading. Individuals have also seen vast growth in financial services from ATMs to mobile banking; EFTPOS to Afterpay.

Developing financial strategies that look to optimise outcomes of financial security and independence can be difficult. This is primarily due to the vast array of variables that need to be considered: age, family situation, income, job security, health, savings goals, economic conditions, etc. Furthermore, as with all variables, these factors will change over time, and sometimes in unexpected ways. Thus, being able to project an individual's wealth over an extended period, and implement strategies to maximise this projection, can (more often than not) be a well-educated guess.

You know things are pretty bad when the Government feels it necessary to investigate an issue by way of a Royal commission. Since Federation, there have been about 140 of these national enquiries, with most of these occurring prior to WW2. The first commission was set up to investigate the arrangement of troops brought home from the Boer War and the second commission was set up to figure out where the Federal Government should be based. Other commissions primarily focused on industry, tariffs and taxation and included investigations into such things as butter, tobacco, sugar and 'moving pictures'.

The Japanese economy was the miracle of the '60s and '70s. Rapid economic growth throughout this period led to Japan becoming the second largest economy in the world at about half the size of the US by the end of the 1990. This growth was fuelled by its manufacturing sector with Japanese cars and electronics being highly sort after by the rest of the world.

With Much of Europe and Asia in tatters following 2 generations of global warfare, the last half of the 20th century was dominated by the American success story. The US economy dwarfed that of its nearest competitors by a factor of up to 10-fold, and its influence spread to all corners of the globe. This 20th century dominance culminated with the formation of silicon valley and the resulting tech stock boom. The US economy has also been one of the best performers on the global stage over the past 5 years and now has record low unemployment and a healthy level of GDP growth. This of course has been primarily driven by past money printing (quantitative easing programs) and a ballooning government debt.

One major way in which humans are different from other animal species is in our ability to communicate and transfer information via language. Our story telling prowess particularly comes in handy when we look to help others learn from the mistakes of the past. This communication also leads to communal systems, where the group tends to be more important than any individual. Another specialty of homo-sapiens is our ability to recognise patterns. This can be useful in hunting, planting crops or finding new business opportunities. These inherent human characteristics provide the underlying mechanics behind technical analysis.

As intelligent, social beings, we humans understand the importance of looking beyond our own needs and wants, and sharing with others. Most of us have given our pennies in supporting someone else - whether it be a family member or friend, or a stranger.

The aim of portfolio management is to construct portfolios that best suit the risk and return objectives of the underlying investor. There are 3 main ways in which this is generally carried out:

In 1987, as part of a raft a tax reforms by the Hawke-Keating Labor government, Australians were finally provided relief from the system of double taxation on dividend income. The imputation or franking credit system, essentially returned the tax that had been paid by companies on dividends to the shareholder via a tax credit, who would then be taxed on the gross taxable dividend. This was opposed to the system where no tax credits were received and shareholders still had to pay tax on dividends.

Insurance policies to help surviving family members in the event of the loss of an income producer, and to cover associated costs (funeral expenses, etc), have been around in some form for over two thousand years. As everyone is subject to the mortal condition of death (at least for now), the correct technical term for such policies is life assurance. However, an even more correct terminology might be premature death insurance, though most people know it as simply 'life insurance'.

In June 2016, the global order of things was turned on its head when a majority of the UK people decided it was best to leave the comforts of the EU behind. Brexit seemed to be the beginning of a period of global political unrest and critically halted the progress of globalisation. And now, Brits are frantically trying to figure out whether it was such a great idea, with many issues (Irish border, European court jurisdiction, divorce bill, etc) threatening to make the process rather painful.

Running a business is generally not for the faint-hearted with risks to prosperity apparent in many facets of operation. Academic studies put the failure of small business at around 20% in the first year and 30% in the second, with about only 30% making it beyond 10 years. The causes for the high failure rate vary, but some key reasons include (in order of likely frequency):

1 December 1955, Montgomery, Alabama: After finishing her days work as a seamstress, Rosa Parks headed home via the local bus service. When the bus hit the downtown area of the city, the bus driver ordered Parks and others of colour to move further back down the bus to make room for white office workers. Parks moved over, but not back, and thus heralded a pivotal point in the U.S. civil rights movement. This was also the call to arms for a young preacher from a church a couple of blocks away; a Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

As we know, money makes the world go round. It greases the wheels of business, allowing for trust, capital and risk to be exchanged between willing buyers and sellers. In as much as money is the metaphorical 'oil' of the global economy, banks and the financial system are its oil distribution and control mechanisms. And just like running an automobile, care needs to be taken to ensure that the financial system has the right level and speed of flow of money. Else, the global engine can freeze up or burn out - also known as financial crisis.

In 2017, a survey by the Lowy Institute indicated that 87% of Australians thought that climate change was an important threat to our way of life, a number which has grown significantly since it bottomed in 2012. In the U.S., the number is lower, but climbing, with a recent Gallup poll putting the worry of global warming by Americans at closer to 60%.

"We have two kinds of forecasters, those who don't know and those who don't know they don't know." John Kenneth Galbraith

To all those who celebrated May the 4th, you may notice that the title of this article is the name of the composition also commonly known as "Darth Vadar's Theme". The word 'imperial' meaning something relating to an empire, and the word 'march' meaning to walk in military manner. Like many things in Star Wars, the symbolism of the "imperial march" is seen throughout much of human history.

When most investors think about investing internationally, the investments that usually come to mind are the big U.S. stocks such as Apple, Amazon or Bank of America. Exposure to foreign stocks like these are likely to have a home in the portfolio of a well-diversified, Australian portfolio. These stocks are traded on onshore markets in the U.S. - the NY Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ. That is, even though they are foreign stocks in the eyes of a non-U.S. Investor, the stocks trade in the currency of their home market.

As the Roman empire was falling from its mount of global dominance, neighbouring nations and tribes began to stake their own claims for a share of the European landscape. The Huns started the process in the 4th century AD and the German barbarians helped to finish the job over the following decades. Anglo-Saxons moved into Britannia, while Franks and Vandals moved west through Gaul (modern France).

A person's net worth is generally calculated using a simple process:

For most of the 1970's and the 80's, inflation in Australia was consistently above 5% and often above 10% per annum. Even though inflation in the U.S. was more subdued in this period, it still managed to spike to 15%, year-on-year, in the early 80's.

Governments and their social programs around the world function primarily as a result of the collection of taxes from a few key sources. The most common taxpayer is the individual citizen, who is also the main beneficiary of the Government's spending. Another major taxpayer and source of revenue for many Governments are the corporations which do business in some way inside of the country's borders.

Stock investors are familiar with "Sell in May, and go away" and the "January effect", with historical evidence showing that such anomalies might be valid. Investment theory, and in particular, the efficient market hypothesis, revile against the evidence of such trading patterns, arguing that such anomalies should not exist.

Thursday, 1 November 2007. This was the day that the All Ordinaries hit its all-time high of 6873.20 and the S&P/ASX200 got to 6828.70. It was an otherwise uneventful day, with most of Australia's attention focussed on the Howard vs Rudd federal election and the preparations for the Melbourne Cup. The Dow had recently hit its historical high of just over 14,000 and most of the world's equity markets were feeling a little pricey.

It is now 8.5 years since the US market started on its current bull market run. A bull market might generally be defined as a period in which stock prices do not hit bear market territory. A bear market is generally defined as a market which has fallen more than 20% from recent highs. Over this same period, the Australian market has seen 20%+ falls on two separate occasions, and has pushed sideways for much of the past 4 years.

In April 2015, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay fines of $US2.5 billion for its involvement in "Liborgate". This was a scandal that rocked the financial world and came hot on the heels of the global financial crisis and the Euro debt crisis. Most of the large US and European banks settled with regulators for similarly large sums with UBS agreeing to pay $US1.5 billion, Barclays and Citigroup hit for $US2.3 billion, and JP Morgan forced to pay $US1.9 billion.

The implosion of the mortgage-backed security market and collapse of Lehman Brothers saw capital markets duck for cover and the freezing of the flow of money throughout the global economy. Creditors stopped lending money and investors looked to switch out of equities and other growth assets and into cash. Stock prices crashed and the world entered a great recession.

For most of us, the concept of managing costs and sticking to budgets is part of everyday life. In fact, failure to stay on top of the family finances can lead to, among other things, high indebtedness, risk of bankruptcy and relationship stress. For business, improper financial management can have similarly dire consequences.

In the first few seasons of the award winning "Downton Abbey", the concept of inheritance tax was raised a number of times. The risk to a family's wealth from having to pay tax on transferring wealth to the children (even for a family as wealthy as the Granthams), was considerable enough to form an underlying plot line throughout the drama.

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." - Leo Tolstoy

Another chapter was added to the superannuation story in 2017. Following on from the plans laid out in the 2016 budget, parliament finally passed the Government's reform package, with most of the changes to the system to be effective of 1 July 2017. Below is a quick look back at the history of Australia's retirement system:

Including claims to area in Antarctica, Australia is actually the 2nd largest nation in the world by land size. Of course, only a handful of other countries acknowledge such claims and there's not much that can be done with the land anyway. Australia is also part of the British Commonwealth of Nations, the successor to the greatest empire the world has seen, the British Empire.

In the early '90s, successful traders and finance academics, tired of making billions in profits for their employer, decided to set-up their own hedge fund and company, LTCM. And from 1994 to 1997 they made billions more, some for themselves and some for other investors. They had grown their fund from $1 billion to $7.4bn and all was looking great. They thought it was so great that they handed back over $2bn to investors in a forced sale so that they could effectively gear-up the fund and increase returns further. By the end of 1998, LTCM were virtually bankrupt and needed to take a $3bn bailout from concerned parties (US Government, banks).

"If I had a crystal ball..."; a phrase regularly uttered by investment professionals. It usually comes after a client, friend or family member requests some insight into the future: "Should I put some more shares at the moment?"; "I'm going overseas in 6 months. Should I buy my $US now or later?"; "When's this property bubble gonna burst?".

For over two hundred years, the sons of the English nobles spent their 'gap year' (usually much longer than a year) wandering the halls and pavilions of the continents greatest art galleries. Known as the "Grand Tour", this practice was somewhat of a rite of passage for the elite, and consisted of an itinerary that included French lessons in Paris, hiking through the Alps and art appreciation in Italy.

Let me begin this attempt at a metaphor by confessing that I am hopeless at surfing and couldn't catch a wave if my life depended upon it. Nevertheless, I do think that the concepts I will look to represent below should still be valid.

Due to the size of the continent on which we live, there has always been a need for foresight and implementation of large infrastructure projects. Since federation, government and business have supplied the country with a vast array of important infrastructure on which our society and economy relies.

The scientific process is concerned with uncovering the truth. By using the existing body of knowledge as their foundation, a good researcher will look to map out what is currently known and will look to fill in some of the gaps of what we don't know. But adding to this body of knowledge is harder than it sounds.

If you have seen a financial adviser in the past decade or so, you would have undoubtedly had the pleasure of completing a risk profile questionnaire. The purpose of such a tool is to try and illustrate and approximate a client's attitude towards the risk that is inherent in investments. That is, to help the client and adviser understand how risky their investment portfolio should be. The risk profile is then translated into an asset allocation, diversified across the major asset classes (shares, property, bonds, cash, alternatives).

Only a few short months ago the thought that Britain would vote to leave the EU, or that Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee for US president, or that Bill Shorten would get to within a few hundred votes of becoming the prime minister of Australia - any one of these scenarios - would have been rightfully laughed down. But here we are, mid-2016, with much of the political world in upheaval. The democratic process that would seek to protect the rights of the citizen has been turned largely on its head. The revolution has begun.

From childhood we are taught the virtue of sharing with others. Most who dedicate some or all of their lives to helping those less fortunate than themselves will attest to the joy and satisfaction that comes from selfless acts of kindness. And in a world full of families without food and children without a home, there is plenty of work to be done.

It doesn't get much trickier for a Treasurer than to deliver an election-year budget, and Scott Morrison's first budget was always going to be met with a high level of scrutiny. With proposed changes touching almost all sectors of the community, the budget looked to address such issues as the "Work for the Dole" scheme, the corporate tax environment and the superannuation system.

In most election years, the promise of new roads and transport systems is high on the agenda, with 2016 being no different. Whether it is high-speed trains, wider internet bandwidths or ways to reduce peak hour congestion, political talk about investment into much needed infrastructure gets thrown around like the proverbial football. Waiting for politicians to figure out how best to spend the public's money can be painful, so luckily they are not the only means whereby roads and airports can be built.

China is the largest country on earth by number of people, with just over 1.3 billion citizens (give or take 200 million). The size of China's middle class is bigger than that of the United States while the upper middle class now numbers over 100 million. Even though more than half of China still live a rural life or live in poverty, the amount of wealthy Chinese men and women continues to grow exponentially.

When referencing the riskiness of investments, it is common for practitioners to refer to volatility. Otherwise known as the standard deviation of return, this important statistic is used to help measure an otherwise abstract concept - investment risk.

Though not an exhaustive list, here is a quick guide to some things you should be looking at when it comes to your financial affairs (yes, many of us will not fit neatly into these categories, so adapt where appropriate):

This time of year is a time of reflection and re-commitment. A few of us will even go to the effort of making some new year's resolutions. Those that write such goals down will likely be more successful in achieving their ambitions. Those that don't may well be making the same goals in 2026.

Despite what we may think of ourselves, most people are not necessarily rational when it comes to decision-making. This is particularly true of investors, which can help to explain why prices of assets may drift far away from any fundamental level of value. One example of this is the question of why do people buy both insurance and lottery tickets.

The recent concerns over Glencore, and its comparison to the likes of Enron and Lehman Brothers, got me thinking about an article I read a few years ago. For those who aren't familiar with John Mauldin, his books and blogs are well worth the time, and his piece from 2013 on 'The QE Sandpile' has remained a favourite.

Whether it be fashion, music, sport stars or investments, there is always an air of excitement around the "next big thing". And when it comes to making money, getting in early on promising prospects is often the steepest slope to generous gains. However, trying to strike it rich from the new and untested can often lead to large discoveries of fool's gold rather than precious deposits. Thus, an appetite for risk is generally required for those looking to invest in frontier markets.

When a lot of people start out with a gearing strategy they tend to think that it will be fun and zany like that TV show, "Dexter". Instead it can at times seem more dark and disturbing like that TV show, "Top Gear".

The past decade has seen a number of changes to the regulatory environment surrounding financial advice. And most of these changes have been brought about due to the various scandals that have shown a degree of unsavoury behaviour that is well above the community's level of comfort. Some of these recent reforms include:

Despite warnings of a retirement savings shortfall, Australia's superannuation system, relative to the size of the country, is one of the biggest and best functioning retirement schemes in the world. If you add in the age pension safety net, the overall standard of living in retirement attainable by a vast majority of the population is likely to be above that of most other countries.

Why do Australians love property so much? What is it about this form of asset class that cultivates such passion and long-lasting interest and enamour? Maybe it's because of its tangibility – i.e. the fact that you can touch it, smell it and know everything about it. Or maybe it's the greater sense of control over the investment you feel as you improve its value through some minor renovations or a new paint job, or as you lift up rent by another $20 per week. Or maybe it's the fact that you can own an asset worth a few hundred thousand dollars when you only need to put down a much smaller deposit.

In Australia, when it comes to our most important trade partners, we often think of China, or the US, or perhaps India, Japan or New Zealand. One vital trade partner that we will have to start paying closer attention to is not one country, but ten - the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This bloc of Asian peninsula and island states is Australia's closest economic partner and may one day become our largest.

The start of 2015 may well be remembered for a large increase in central bank activity. After years of low or zero interest rates and quantitative easing across most of the developed world, many of us are now getting very familiar with seeing the likes of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor, Federal Reserve (Fed) chair or European Central Bank (ECB) president across the front pages of our news.

After all the noise that has filled the financial world over the past year, its probably a good idea to take a step back, breathe, and have a good look at where you are at. It can be quite easy to be caught up with all the drama and focus on the bigger, but far-removed financial crises, and forget about some of the smaller, yet vital, parts to your own financial well-being. I'm talking about the basics, the essentials.

The thought of investing into overseas companies or assets can be quite daunting for many. Overall, there tends to be a "home field" bias for most investors, with the inclination to keep investments domiciled locally, and only venturing internationally as a last resort. This seems to be mainly driven by the higher level of comfort one might have for domestic companies and governments, with many investors wanting to invest only in assets (shares, property, bonds, etc) in which they have a good understanding of the underlying business or environment, which tends to mean local company shares, property and government bonds. This attitude, however, can have large and adverse effects on portfolios with greater risks and lower returns.

"Mr. Hadley. Do you trust your wife?" (Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption).

Diversifying a portfolio into countries where markets and rule of law is still developing can have its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, opportunities to find undervalued companies, or find industries that are likely to grow at a high rate, can be be more common than what might be found in the more developed markets. However, loss of capital due to political or legislative changes, can also be a more common feature of investing into emerging markets.

As found in the ageing writings of John and Paul, "money can't buy me love". But can it buy happiness? The answer is only sometimes yes, and often no. But if the pursuit of happiness is really the goal of us all, why should we pay so much attention to it. What does money have to do with being happy?

Asset allocation has often been shown to be the prime determinant of overall portfolio performance. Or, in other words, deciding how much exposure your portfolio should have to shares or cash, is a more important portfolio decision than whether you should own Telstra shares or Woolworth shares. This is not only due to the high correlation between similar assets, but also the large differences of long-term return and risks between the different asset classes.

In this month's article we discuss some obvious, and some not-so-obvious, financial tips for those starting out in the working world. Independence from parents may seem fun, but often young people get caught out by by common financial traps, and so understanding the finance world is a key step in avoiding such pitfalls. Warning: Do not be fooled in thinking that just because you are not young in age anymore that the below principles are irrelevant to your circumstances.

The concept of "money printing" and "quantitative easing" is not new in a world that has been slowly recovering from the financial meltdown of 2008.

Investing in equities has proven to be worthwhile endeavour over the last century, despite the occasional cliff dive. And in order to give those without the skills or time to research which stocks to be purchasing, fund managers have stepped into the responsibility of taking care of much of the trillions of dollars set aside for share investments. But not all fund managers think the same way, and not all invest how you might think. In this month's article, we take a look at the different styles of equity fund managers available to be utilised by investors.

"...anyone that is especially over 60 should definitely have considered a Transition to Retirement strategy, if not have already established one."

We live in the information age and as with other industries, the finance and investment industry is full of respected commentators all trying to provide an insight into the inner workings of the investment world. Though there are many, here is a list of bloggers, journalists and economists who I rate highly and who make the inaugural (and perhaps final) list of Daniel's Top Investment Commentators (in no particular order):

Pre-1970's, superannuation was only really offered to public servants, defence force and higher paid employees

Bonds (also known as fixed interest/income or credit securities), are often misunderstood, and thus, sometimes used by investors for the wrong reason or purpose. Today, we will take a look at the fundamentals and features of these securities, with the aim of building a sound appreciation for this important asset class.

When investing in, or purchasing, an asset or investment, one big question that needs to be answered is "Who is the owner?". For many of us, the simplest approach to answer this question is to simply own the asset in our names. But often times this may not be the most effective ownership structure. One of the key considerations when deciding on an ownership structure will be the overall tax implications.

Some of you may already be familiar with the following object lesson, which goes something like this

I sometimes get lost when I'm driving. This mostly occurs when I decide to take the back streets or hopeful shortcuts in the effort to reduce travel times and/or miss traffic. Now at these times, when trapped in a seemingly never ending sequence of ringed suburban streets and no through roads, I implement a simple plan.

As we continue to live longer, the number of older Australians in need of extra care will likely grow rapidly. In this month's article we take a look at the different options available to those in need of care and what they, or those looking after them, may need to consider in regards to their financial affairs.

Throughout most of the financial world, increasing wealth is seen to be the primary objective and driver behind sound financial management. Though this is an important facet of what happens in the mahogany lined offices of Wall Street or the lofty towers of Hong Kong, making money often plays a secondary role to another objective - preserving money.

Most investors know the value of diversification and thus understand the importance of investing in different asset classes and sectors. This could mean investing some of your wealth in cash and some in property. Or maybe some in equities and some in gold. Knowing what areas are available to invest in is the first piece of the puzzle, the second being how to invest. In this article we wil discuss the various investment vehicles available to investors to help them access the returns and yields available from the universe of assets and securities.

Have you ever looked at the equity market or a share price and wonder why it goes up and down like it does. From an individual company point of view, we have pretty good forecasts on how much money they're likely to make and most of the blue chips have pretty stable dividend policies. And its not like new information is coming to light every second or every day or even every week. So why should a companies share price change second by second?

Debt, like with most things, can be good for you if taken in moderation. But not all debt is the same, and some debt can be very bad for you in deed. But what is good debt and how do you avoid the bad?

"All I had done was to improve on their strategy, and it was the beginning of a very important lesson in life - that anytime you find someone more successful than you are, especially when you're both engaged in the same business - you know they're doing something you aren't" - Malcolm X

Floating foreign exchange rates bob around on global market waters being pulled by currents of Government policy, economic fundamentals and speculative biases. The price of a currency is simply how much you can exchange it for a foreign unit, with the US dollar being the predominate benchmark. The higher your currency's rate of exchange, the richer you become on a relative basis, and vice-versa. But then, why are most countries happy for their currency to slide?

Working hard today so that one day we no longer have to work is the goal of most Australian families. This month we look at the different ways in which most of us save for our retirement and how we can most effectively utilise each of these retirement avenues.

Nutritionists tell us that we need to be eating a vast array of healthy foods, from lamb roast to a nice green salad. This, they say, gives our bodies the nutrients needed to perform at their best and protect them from the plagues of man. Sounds about right.

For those of you who do not wish to be bored with an indepth look at the economic policies of government, probably best not to read on. For the rest of you, welcome to lecture 4 of Econ101, "Government Economic Policies for Dummies".

No-one particularly likes to think about their own eventual death or the demise of a loved one. Most of us would much prefer to contemplate the more pleasant parts of our future, like seeing our children grow up, or what the next iPhone will look like.

As we all know, when it comes to the world of investing, there are investments that are not too risky, and other investments which are terribly risky (and plenty in between).

There are many risks in this world, and the point of insurance is to try and mitigate the effects of these risks as much as possible. Due to insurance costs, you are not going be able to mitigate all risks.

Just as most Olympians work and struggle with the goal of achieving gold on the international stage, so it is with ordinary Australians in their quest for retirement gold.

Hedge funds, commodities, gold, a Rembrandt. These are all examples of different kinds of investments that are being used more often in portfolios. These are the investments that fall into the "Other Assets" segment. These are the less known and understood investments. These are.... the Alternatives.

As the popular saying goes, the only 2 certainties in life are death and… taxes (except if you live in Greece or run business out of the Caymans).

Wouldn't it be great to live in a risk-free world. Where unforeseen events had no adverse effect. Where actions had no dire consequences. Yes, a life of reckless abandon… But, where's the fun in that.

At this time, when the world at large is starting to rethink some of the big assumptions and theories which have driven economies for decades and longer (e.g. capitalism is cool, money can buy you love, etc), many smaller investors are re-evaluating and questioning some pretty important issues themselves.

Though not an exhaustive list, here is a quick guide to some things you should be looking at when it comes to your financial affairs (yes, many of us will not fit neatly into these categories, so adapt where appropriate):

Not all that long ago I was speaking with an elderly gentleman, who was retiring, and we were looking over his various superannuation statements.

Uncertainty, volatility and poor macroeconomic policy have created a troublesome environment for investors and those living off their assets.