K64 Auxiliary Finance and Insurance Services

Australian workers not saving enough to handle a job loss

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Original article by Killian Plastow
The New Daily – Page: Online : 11-Jul-19

Research by Finder shows that 5.9 million Australian workers have insufficient savings to support themselves for more than a month if they lost their job. The survey also found that 2.1 million Australians would be unable to financially support themselves for more than a week. Separate research by Roy Morgan shows that Australians have an average of six months’ worth of savings, although the median is about 0.8 months, or 24 days. CEO Michele Levine says people on low incomes would be hardest hit by a sudden job loss, as they are less likely to have savings.

CORPORATES
FINDER.COM.AU, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Rate cuts push investors into risky territory

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 25 : 10-Jul-19

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 recorded its third-biggest loss for 2019 on 8 July, after gaining two per cent in the previous week and about 25 per cent in the last six months. The rally in global sharemarkets during 2019 has been driven by central banks’ shift towards a monetary policy easing bias. The downturn in official interest rates is prompting more investors to embrace higher-risk asset classes, which in turn can increase market risk.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, JP MORGAN AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Morgan Stanley puts cat among the pigeons

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 28 : 9-Jul-19

The S&P/ASX 200 recorded its third-biggest daily loss for 2019 on 8 July, after gaining two per cent in the previous week. Morgan Stanley’s move to downgrade its equity market recommendation from ‘equalweight’ to ‘underweight’ contributed to the pullback, and Andrew Sheets of Morgan Stanley says the investment bank’s global equity weight is now at its lowest since coverage began in 2014. Meanwhile, with the US earnings season set to begin shortly, Tobias Levkovich of Citigroup says consensus estimates for earnings in the June quarter could be too low.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MORGAN STANLEY AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Morgans knew of problems at branch

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Original article by Liam Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 5-Jul-19

Stockbroker Morgans is the subject of dozens of law suits from clients; over 20 of them are targeting Morgans and David Wilkins, the former head of its branch at Springwood in Queensland. Some clients of Morgans have claimed that they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of advice they received from Morgans’ Springwood office. An email sent in 2009 that is contained in one of the lawsuits against Morgans indicates that its senior management were aware that there were problems at the office, but the fir did not advise clients about its concerns.

CORPORATES
MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Shares near all-time high as rates fall

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Original article by Melissa Yeo
The Australian – Page: 21 & 29 : 5-Jul-19

The S&P/ASX 200 reached a new 12-year high during intra-day trading on 4 July, and the benchmark index is now just 133 points shy of its record high of October 2007. George Kanaan of UBS says the fall in bond yields has been the key driver for local and international shares in 2019. The federal government’s income tax cuts package has also boosted sentiment among Australian investors; Plato Investment Management’s MD Don Hamson says the tax cuts could have the same stimulatory impact as two reductions in the cash rate.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, PLATO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, PEPPERSTONE GROUP LIMITED, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Facebook digital currency to challenge the banks

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 20 : 19-Jun-19

Social media giant Facebook has outlined plans to directly compete with financial services providers such as banks and the online payments sector. It aims to offer digital wallet and cryptocurrency products in the first half of 2020. Facebook is a founding member of the Libra Association, which will manage the Libra cryptocurrency, while its digital wallet will be called Calibra. Facebook’s plans can be expected to attract close scrutiny from Australian and international regulators, given the company’s data breach scandal in 2018.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, LIBRA ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ, UNION SQUARE VENTURES, RIBBIT CAPITAL, ALIPAY, TENCENT HOLDINGS LIMITED, AFTERPAY TOUCH GROUP LIMITED – ASX APT, ZIP CO LIMITED – ASX Z1P, APPLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, OFX GROUP LIMITED – ASX OFX, TRANSFERWISE, MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, VISA INTERNATIONAL, PAYPAL INCORPORATED, EBAY INCORPORATED, UBER TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED, SPOTIFY LIMITED, VODAFONE GROUP PLC, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Rate cut may lead to riskier investing

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Original article by Sarah Turner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 13-Jun-19

Anthony Doyle of Fidelity International says Australian savers are likely to seek out higher-yielding and higher-risk investments following the Reserve Bank’s decision to reduce the cash rate to a new low of 1.25 per cent. He notes that there was a similar trend in the UK following the global financial crisis, with Britain’s cash rate reaching a low of just 25 basis points. Doyle also expects the search for yield to bolster Australia’s corporate bond market.

CORPORATES
FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, M&G INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Rate cut to spur ASX to even greater heights

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Original article by Sarah Turner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 30 : 7-Jun-19

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 has gained more than12 per cent so far in 2019, including a one per cent gain since the Reserve Bank reduced the cash rate on 4 June. The first interest rate cut in almost three years may provide the catalyst for further sharemarket gains, particularly given the higher yields at present from equities than bonds and cash products such as term deposits. There is also growing expectations of further monetary policy easing before the end of 2019.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Boards feel the pinch on pay as Hayne fallout hits home

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: Online : 4-Jun-19

A new survey shows that company secretaries in the financial services sector have received an average pay rise of 24 per cent in 2018-19. In contrast, the remuneration of directors and chairpersons in the industry have fallen by 11 per cent in the wake of the Hayne royal commission. Likewise, the remuneration of CEOs in the sector fell by 21 per cent and managing directors’ pay was cut by 10 per cent. The survey was undertaken by the Governance Institute, in partnership with McGuirk Consultants and Board Direction.

CORPORATES
GOVERNANCE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, McGUIRK MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS PTY LTD, BOARD DIRECTION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

ASX surge isn’t over yet, but there are dangers

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 28 : 28-May-19

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 has gained 14 per cent so far in 2019, closing at around 6,452 points on 27 May, and some analysts expect it to rise further. Citigroup now expects the benchmark index to top 6,700 points by the end of the year and reach the 6,850-point level by mid-2020. However, Chris Nicol of Morgan Stanley expects the local bourse to experience a ‘cooling off period’ following its recent peak at a 12-year high.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA