K: Financial and Insurance Services

Big banks, miners increase dominance in risk to investors

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 22-Apr-26

The list of Australia’s 10 biggest stocks is now dominated by banks and mining companies; CLS, Wesfarmers and Goodman Group are now the only top-10 stocks in the S&P/ASX 200 Index that are not in these sectors. The four major banks and BHP top the list, and collectively account for 35 per cent of the sharemarket. Lachlan Halloway from Morningstar notes that resources groups have benefited from rising commodity prices due to the Iran war, while investors still regard banks as ‘safe haven’ stocks.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, CLS LAWYERS PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

$A an unlikely powerhouse amid oil shock

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 8-Apr-26

The Australian dollar has fallen by less than three per cent against its US counterpart since the start of the Iran war; it has also fallen by only two per cent against a basket of currencies of Australia’s major trading partners. The dollar peaked at a four-year high of $US0.7151 in mid-March, and is currently fetching arond $US0.69. It has benefited from Australia’s status as a major exporter of gas and coal, amid the global ructions arising from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The dollar has also been boosted by the carry trade, given that Australia is the only member of the G10 nations to have increased official interest rates since the war began.

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32 scam websites deleted each day

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Original article by Kathleen Skene
The Australian – Page: 15 : 8-Apr-26

Data from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission shows that it has used its ‘take-down’ powers to order the removal of more than 25,000 phishing and investment scam websites since 2023. This includes 11,964 sites in 2025, which is 90 per cent higher than the previous year. ASIC commissioner Alan Kirkland notes the growing use of artificial intelligence technology to generate scam ads, including professional videos and fake endorsements. The National Anti-Scam Centre has reported that Australians lost a combined $2.18bn via scams in 2025.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, NATIONAL ANTI-SCAM CENTRE

Risk of mortgage stress dropped to lowest for three years in January, but is set to increase as interest rates rise in 2026

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Mar-26

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 23.9% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in January 2026, down 4% points from August 2025. This is the lowest proportion of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ since January 2023. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has decreased by 449,000 compared to a year ago, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate cuts. Meanwhile, the number of Australians considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 789,000 (15.9% of mortgage holders); this is just below the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.3%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

CBA plans to retrain workers to head off anger over job cuts

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 25-Feb-26

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia will launch a new skills program that aims to retrain its staff and provide them with the AI skills and other expertise that will be needed in the future. CEO Matt Comyn says employers have an obligation to help workers to build up their AI skills, and he argues that Australian companies must embrace AI technology in order to remain internationally competitive. CBA’s focus will be on training staff in areas that will be in demand, with the aim of shifting thousands of workers into higher-value roles. Meanwhile, CBA has advised of another 300 job cuts across its banking and human resources teams, although they have not been specifically linked to AI.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Elliott drops legal case against ANZ over unpaid bonus

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Original article by Angira Bharadwaj, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 25-Feb-26

The ANZ Bank withheld some $32m worth of bonuses to some current and former executives in 2025, in response to the regulatory failing that resulted in a record fine. The executives included former CEO Shayne Elliott, who subsequently pursued legal action to recover more than $13.5m in bonuses that had been cancelled. Elliott contended that ANZ had breached the terms of his departure by withholding his bonuses. The bank has welcomed Elliott’s decision to abandon the lawsuit, and has advised that both parties will pay their own legal costs. Elliott is entitled to an additional $8m worth of future bonuses, which may also be in doubt.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Profit season off to unusually strong start

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 18-Feb-26

Banks and resources stocks have been the key drivers of a strong earnings performance so far in the February reporting season. However, there have been mixed earnings outside of these sectors, which has been reflected in share prices; Cochlear and Temple & Webster are the stocks that fell sharply after their latest financial results were below expectations. Hasan Tevfik from MST Marquee notes that overall, there has not been such a strong start to the earnings season since February 2021, when the market was recovering from the impact of the pandemic.

CORPORATES
COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, TEMPLE AND WEBSTER GROUP LIMITED – ASX TPW, MST MARQUEE

Macquarie’s plan to grab more market share in deposits

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 11-Feb-26

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that Macquarie Bank’s household deposits topped $100bn for the first time in December. Macquarie’s deposits grew by 3.6 per cent in December, outperforming all other banks. Head of personal banking Ben Perham says Macquarie aims to increase its market share with regard to term deposits, which is curently one per cent; in contrast, its share of transaction and savings accounts is now seven per cent. Meanwhile, its home loan market share has risen to 6.8 per cent, and Perham says it is approving mortgage loans "considerably faster" than other lenders.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Interest rate increases set to hit mortgage holders in Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania the hardest

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Feb-26

The most recent Roy Morgan data on mortgage stress shows that 24.5% of mortgage holders are now ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress. Last week’s interest rate rise is expected to increase this to 25.3%, and a 25 basis point interest rate rise in March to 4.1% would increase this to 27.2% (1,322,000 mortgage holders). A deep dive into Roy Morgan’s data on mortgage stress by State shows that the situation is worst in Tasmania; 29.8% of mortgage holders are classified as ‘At Risk’, and this will increase by 3.8% points to 32.6% if the Reserve Bank increases interest rates again in March. In clear second place is Victoria with 27.2% of mortgage holders classified as ‘At Risk’ and set to increase to 29.9% (up 2.7% points) following another RBA interest rate increase. However, a potential RBA interest rate increase will hit hardest in Queensland and would mean 26.8% of mortgage holders are ‘At Risk’ – an increase of 3.2% points. Overall, 17.1% of mortgage holders are ‘Extremely At Risk’, and this will increase by 2.4% points to 19.5% if the Reserve Bank increases interest rates in March (947,000 mortgage holders).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Super fund satisfaction rises to new record highs driven by record highs for Retail Funds and Industry Funds

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Feb-26

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows an overall super fund satisfaction with financial performance rating of 78.8% in December 2025. This is an increase of 10.4% points from a year ago and up 13.8% points from the post-pandemic low of 65.0% in July 2023. Superannuation satisfaction is now 19.2% points above the long-term average of 59.6% since 2007. There has been significant improvement across all four categories of super funds over the last year; the largest increase is for Retail Funds, with customer satisfaction up 10.5% points to a new record high of 75.6%. Customer satisfaction for Industry Funds has risen by 9.6% points to 78.9% in the last year, which is also a record high. Customer satisfaction with Public Sector Funds is up 9.8% points to 83.6%, and now clearly the highest of any of the four categories, while customer satisfaction with Self-Managed Funds is up 3.1% points to 80.4%. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most trusted consumer survey, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 60,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED