General News

hings change and keep changing – in finance as well as in life.

In the last few years Australia has done very well to steer a steady path through the financial issues rocking the economies of most of the rest of the developed world, and that world itself is changing.

Take a look at the graphs below which compare the composition of world stock markets in 1999 and 2009, showing the growing importance of Asia (ex-Japan) over this period.

The middle class of Asia is emerging and at full strength will be almost half the world’s population. An opportunity on our doorstep!

The topic is hard to avoid.

If you have been reading the newspapers, watching tv or listening to the radio lately you would notice that the biggest topic of conversation seems to be centered around the debate over the carbon tax. But what exactly is it proposing?

For those of you that are still unsure what the tax is, we found that this short video below (whilst only a broad overview) provides some insight into the proposed carbon tax.

We do not provide this video to represent any particular view on the carbon tax, nor do we express our opinions over its validity or present any political views. There continues to be some debate over this topic and we simply feel that this short video provides a succinct overview of the proposed carbon tax in under 2 minutes.

We are pleased to hear all the positive feedback following our Special Client Event held at Skilled Stadium last night. Thank you to those who attended for creating a great atmosphere and making the night a success.

For those of you who missed out, our guest speakers were Alexandra Roos from Premium China Funds Management and adventurer, Mark George.

Our first guest speaker, Alexandra Roos is …

We are often asked ‘what do you think will happen to the investment markets?’

Many of you will have heard us say that I don’t have a crystall ball! However when I look at the Australian economy I can’t help but think we are in a very prosperous phase. Full employment, record company profits, strong economic growth, inflation and interest rates under control and a resources sector going ‘gangbusters’.

Aviva Investors has taken out this year’s Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year award.

Aviva secured the top honours last week ahead of fellow Australian fund managers and finalists Perpetual Investments and Schroders.

Morningstar co-head of fund research Tim Murphy said the decision to award the prize to Aviva stemmed from the group’s overall performance.

As widely expected, the RBA has kept rates on hold for another month. Good news for variable rate mortgage holders.

It is however important to note that factors such as the reported skills shortage and low unemployment rates are likely to put upward pressure on wages.

Australia has the highest household debt to disposable income ratio in the world, even higher than the United States1.

Over the past decade income growth has failed to keep up with property prices, with rapid growth over the past few years driven particularly by government incentives to first-home buyers.

From a business perspective, Australia was a great place to be during 2010. Thanks in part to continued growth in China, our economy stayed strong.

Because of this, unemployment hovered near record lows. And although thanks to the cautiousness of the Reserve Bank, interest rates rose, they’re not yet at the level likely to cause large scale mortgage stress for households.

Why would I use a Mortgage Broker?
Because they can save you time and money.

As the Home Loan market becomes increasingly complex, more people are turning to Mortgage Brokers. Here are some of the reasons.

It takes time, effort and money to look after a property.

Its possible to manage a rental property yourself, and in so doing save a management fee thats usually around 5 per cent of the rent. But it can be time-consuming and it’s hard to remain emotionally detached when you have tenants ringing up complaining about every little thing, or you personally have to deal with damage to your property.