After promising to enact the Royal Commission's recommendations to the letter before the report was even released, and then saying it accepted all the recommendations "in principle" after the report was published (whatever that means), Labor have now rejected outright one of the Royal Commission's most important findings: that mortgage... Show More
With the dust settling from the final report of the Financial services Royal Commission, we took the opportunity to ask Ben Rundle from NAOS and Michael Wayne from Medallion Financial to rank the banks and nominate the winners and losers. Show More
Welcome to Nikko Asset Management’s 4 Minute reporting season wrap up on the week that was in Australian markets, and what we are reviewing in the week ahead. Show More
I’m about to be somewhat facetious. Imagine two children each setting up their own lemonade stand. One is meticulous, works hard at bringing in customers and making the best darn lemonade he can. He soon has a slew of happy little customers. Sure, he starts to struggle when the crowds... Show More
Today I question whether ScoMo and APRA "boned" NAB's Henry and Thorburn - it was somewhat coincidental timing given ScoMo had called for their heads 24hrs earlier - and reveal that Labor will be giving the banks an incredible $2.6 billion annual profitability gift by forcing consumers, rather than banks,... Show More
Just 25% of Livewire readers surveyed earlier this week said that they are happy with the recommendations from the royal commission and expect them to result in positive changes for Australians. Show More
In April 2016 I published an article on the myriad of problems in Australian financial services that ASIC had failed to address. The article was written shortly after the announcement that ASIC’s then head, Greg Medcraft, was being given an eighteen-month extension to his initial five-year term. Show More
The recommendations of the final report by the Royal Commission into Financial Services were far more benign than the market feared. And that’s seen an immediate bounce in bank share prices. Can shareholders now relax? Show More
In my column today I write that the biggest winners from the royal commission are demonstrably the big banks while the largest losers are Australia’s mortgage brokers. Indeed, the top end of town have done an amazing job (as we predicted) convincing everyone that brokers should be made the “fall... Show More
With the results of the Hayne Royal Commission now available for all to see (final report here), fund managers, journalists, and bankers everywhere are scrambling to absorb the biggest impacts. Here, I'll summarize some of the key findings from my initial glance at the report (spoiler alert: the mortgage broking... Show More
10 years ago, Jeremy Cooper, now Chairman of Retirement Income at Challenger, chaired the Federal Government’s Super System Review, commonly known as the Cooper Review. With the final report from the Banking Royal Commission due to be released in a couple of days, we took the opportunity to talk to... Show More
With markets more unpredictable than ever, I reached out to Hugh Dive at Atlas Funds to get his view of the year ahead. In this exclusive written Q&A, he shares three key considerations for investing in 2019, and one big risk investors are underpricing. Show More
2018 has proven to be a tumultuous year for the Australian equity market. Key themes driving the market’s decline and heightened volatility have included the increase in government regulations, escalation in trade wars and attempts to control the global oil surplus. Show More
2019 is just a few months away. So when we sat down with Natalie Tam, Investment Director at Aberdeen Standard Investments, we took the opportunity to ask her what she thought the key market issues could be next year. She touches on 5 key issues including the prospect of a... Show More
East Coast residential property continues to soften as credit tightens, but in this interview with Charlie Jamieson, CIO at Jamieson Coote Bonds, he warns that property investors might make matters worse by becoming forced sellers in a falling market. Show More
Today I review research that shows if Labor eliminates negative gearing and increases capital gains tax by 50%, national house prices could fall 9-12% on top of the current declines; parse new analysis from CoreLogic highlighting a spike in the share of apartment owners realising losses when they sell their... Show More
Today I argue that the Hayne royal commission's interim report is flawed in several respects that will force lenders to hike mortgage rates and reduce access to credit (click on that link to read the column): Show More
Today I analyse a case before the Federal Court where the judge has, thus far, refused to accept the joint submission from both ASIC and Westpac that Westpac should be fined $35 million for breaching Labor's new responsible lending laws because the judge cannot find any such breach. It is... Show More
Normally the semi-annual profit results from the Commonwealth Bank are fairly staid affairs, with the bank delivering consistent profits with few surprises. However, this reporting season the CBA result will face a far greater degree of scrutiny after the annus horribilis of 2018. Show More
In the AFR today I argue that nobody seems to have noticed that the royal commission's mandate is biased in favour of the imprudent over the parsimonious. It has spent most of its time agonising over the tiny number of "bad" borrowers who defaulted on their interest and/or principal repayments... Show More