K64 Auxiliary Finance and Insurance Services

CBA eyes $4b spin-off of funds manager

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 18-Apr-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has appointed John Mulcahy as the chairman of Colonial First State Global Asset Management ahead of its demerger and sharemarket float. Goldman Sachs values CFSGAM at between $A3.7bn and $A4.8bn, which could potentially make it the largest Australian IPO since Medibank Private in 2014. CBA opted for an IPO following a strategic review of CFSGAM, which boasts $A219bn worth of assets under management. CBA sold its life insurance business in 2017, and the latest divestiture will enable it to focus on its core banking business.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AIA GROUP LIMITED, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, REGAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES TREASURY CORPORATION, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, ECLIPX GROUP LIMITED – ASX ECX, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, FIDELITY INVESTMENTS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ERNST AND YOUNG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

AMP admits dirty deeds and deceptions

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Apr-18

Shares in AMP fell sharply on 17 April after the banking royal commission heard further revelations of misconduct. Jack Regan, AMP’s head of financial advice, told the inquiry of multiple instance in which AMP had misled the Australian Securities & Investments Commission with regard to an investigation into a financial planning scandal. Amongst other things, the inquiry was told that AMP had falsely informed clients that they had been overcharged. Regan also said AMP’s relationship with Clayton Utz raised questions about the impartiality of the law firm’s investigation into the scandal.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, CLAYTON UTZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

AMP admits to misleading ASIC 10 times

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Apr-18

AMP confessed to the banking royal commission on 16 April that it had misled the Australian Securities & Investments Commission on at least 10 occasions. Its deception related to a scheme that saw numerous customers charged fees for services they did not receive. With financial planning being the focus of the banking royal commission’s second round of public hearings, ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell said that in his opinion financial planners should not be able to refer to themselves as professionals, such has been their poor behaviour in recent years.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, STORM FINANCIAL LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Boards appoint more women than men

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Apr-18

Fifty-two per cent of directors appointed to the boards of S&P/ASX 200 companies in the first three months of 2018 were female, according to the Australian Institute of Company Directors. This compares to 36 per cent for the same period in 2017, and 44 per cent for the same period in 2016. Companies that appointed female directors in the March 2018 quarter include Whitehaven Coal, Beach Energy and Flight Centre. AICD chair Elizabeth Proust suggests that one reason for the growing number of female directors is research which suggests that diversity is good for a company’s bottom line.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, DAVID JONES LIMITED, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED, ARGO INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX ARG, ARGO GLOBAL LISTED INFRASTUCTURE LIMITED – ASX ALI, INVOCARE LIMITED – ASX IVC, THORN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TGA, NONI B LIMITED – ASX NBL, COMPUTERSHARE LIMITED – ASX CPU, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, VOCUS GROUP LIMITED – ASX VOC, ACSI INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD

Activism to rise as M&A at highest since 2007

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 13-Apr-18

Data from Dealogic shows that $US32.8bn ($A42.3bn) worth of mergers and acquisitions have been announced in Australia so far in 2018. Neil Pathak of Gilbert + Tobin says M&A activity in the near-term is unlikely to be affected by heightened financial market volatility or concerns about a trade war between the US and China. The law firm also anticipates that shareholder activists will continue to target listed companies.

CORPORATES
DEALOGIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, ARDENT LEISURE GROUP – ASX AAD, QUINTIS LIMITED – ASX QIN, AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, ISENTIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX ISD, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, TRIBECA INVESTMENT PARTNERS PTY LTD, BENNELONG FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, UNIBAIL-RODAMCO, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

How to pick a winner as tariff tensions rise

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 26 : 10-Apr-18

Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse says a trade war between the US and China would negatively affect economic growth, bond markets and shares. He adds that investors should factor in the potential impact of an increase in tariffs, although a large-scale trade war is unlikely to occur. Tevfik says BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and QBE Insurance Group are among the Australian-listed companies that would be hard hit by increased protectionism by the US and China. He also warns of the potential for a further rise in bond yields.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX SGM, MONADELPHOUS GROUP LIMITED – ASX MND, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, NUFARM LIMITED – ASX NUF, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BOEING COMPANY, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Amid the swings hopes for rally build

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 30 : 6-Apr-18

The S&P 500 gained 10 per cent in February 2018, while Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose five per cent in response. Equities markets may experience a similar rally in April, with Australian banks in particular having the potential to perform well given that the S&P/ASX 200 banks index is currently at its lowest level for 18 months. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 is trading on a price-earnings multiple of 14.8 times, compared with its long-term average of about 14.4 times, according to Chris Nicol and Daniel Blake of Morgan Stanley.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX BANKS 200 INDEX, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX, NYSE FANG+ INDEX

Facebook fallout hits technology stocks

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 17 & 26 : 29-Mar-18

Investor sentiment toward Australian-listed technology companies turned bearish on 28 March, in the wake of a similar sell-down on Wall Street. WiseTech Global was among the hardest hit, shedding 4.6 per cent to close at $A10.11, while Altium, Appen and Xero all fell by at least two per cent. Julia Lee of Bell Direct stresses that Australian technology stocks do not use large volumes of data so they are not exposed to the same risks as US peers such as Facebook. She does note that many local tech stocks are overvalued.

CORPORATES
WISETECH GLOBAL LIMITED – ASX WTC, ALTIUM CAPITAL LIMITED, APPEN LIMITED – ASX APX, XERO LIMITED – ASX XRO, BELL DIRECT, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA LLC, NASDAQ, LINCOLN INDICATORS PTY LTD, GENTRACK GROUP LIMITED – ASX GTK, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Cracks emerging in the case for being bullish

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 27 : 22-Mar-18

The potential for a trade war has been identified as the biggest risk to the global bull market in a survey of fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The prospect of a trade war has topped the list of "tail risks" for the first time since January 2017, in the wake of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump. A sharp rise in inflation and a slowdown in global economic growth were the other key risks identified by the survey of 176 fund managers. However, 58 per cent of respondents expect growth of at least 10 per cent in global earnings per share over the next 12 months.

CORPORATES
BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION, MERRILL LYNCH AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ATLANTA, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, BAIDU.COM INCORPORATED, ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LIMITED, TENCENT HOLDINGS LIMITED

Local investors must factor in Fed rates hike

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 19-Mar-18

Futures pricing indicates that the Australian sharemarket is likely to rise when trading resumes on 19 March. The banking royal commission and Labor’s imputation credit reforms are likely to be a key focus for investors in the coming week, along with the latest jobs data and the minutes from the Reserve Bank’s monthly board meeting. The first meeting of the Federal Reserve under new chairman Jerome Powell will also attract scrutiny, amid expectations of a rise in US interest rates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, BNP PARIBAS SA