K: Financial and Insurance Services

ANZ life sale could pave way for buybacks

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Original article by Alice Uribe, Joyce Moullakis, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 21 : 13-Dec-17

CEO Shayne Elliott concedes that the ANZ Bank’s earnings will be lower following recent asset sales, although he believes that refocusing the group is in the best interests of shareholders. ANZ shares closed 1.1 per cent higher at $A28.82 on 12 December after it announced the sale of its life insurance division to Zurich for $A2.85bn. ANZ had sold the OnePath business to IOOF Holdings earlier in 2017. Elliott has indicated that ANZ could potentially use the proceeds of the latest deal to finance a share buyback.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, ZURICH FINANCIAL SERVICES AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ZURICH INSURANCE COMPANY, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED

Analysts ease fears over Basel

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 21 : 12-Dec-17

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byers has welcomed finalisation of the Basel IV reforms governing the global capital requirements for banks. He says Australian banks are in a good position to meet the Basel IV reforms, a comment echoed by Victor German of Macquarie. Craig Williams of Citigroup says the reforms have a longer implementation time (2027) than was expected, while they are not as onerous as had been forecast.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS. BASEL COMMITTEE ON BANKING SUPERVISION, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Social media drives up insurance costs

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 11-Dec-17

The insurance sector is seemingly an industry under siege, with its inclusion in Australia’s royal commission into the financial services sector its latest woe. Online calculators and comparison sites are making it easier for consumers to switch policies. Richard Enthoven, the chairman of insurance company Greenstone and the founder of insurance firm Hollard, points to social media as another cause of the industry’s problems. He contends that the practice of unhappy insurance customers complaining about their experience on Facebook and the like is pushing up the cost of insurance premiums.

CORPORATES
GREENSTONE LIMITED, HOLLARD INSURANCE GROUP, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, INSTAGRAM LLC, COMMINSURE, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Satisfaction with private health insurers continues decline

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Dec-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that satisfaction with Australia’s private health insurers declined to 71.0% in October 2017, down by 0.2% points for the month and 3.4% points below the same time in 2016. This level is now well down on the peak of 76.4% recorded in June 2015 and is the lowest satisfaction rating since 2010. The top fund was Teachers Health with 83.4% satisfaction, followed by TUH Health Fund (82.8%), Defence Health (82.8%), CBHS (82.1%) and Health Partners (80.9%). The only funds to show improvements in satisfaction over the last 12 months were TUH Health Fund (up 3.7% points) and Australian Unity (up 2.1% points). Less than half the members of the major health funds would be "highly likely" (with a score of 8 to 10 on a ten point scale) to recommend their fund to friends or colleagues.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, TEACHERS HEALTH FUND, TUH HEALTH FUND, DEFENCE HEALTH LIMITED, CBHS FRIENDLY SOCIETY LIMITED, HEALTH PARTNERS, AUSTRALIAN UNITY HEALTH LIMITED, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THE HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS FUND OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ASX will share blockchain system savings

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 8-Dec-17

Stock exchanger operator ASX Limited expects to achieve significant cost savings by phasing out its CHESS settlement and clearing system for equities in favour of one based on blockchain technology. Financial market experts say the shift to distributed ledger technology developed by Digital Asset Holdings will increase the sharemarket’s transparency, and have welcomed the ASX’s announcement that some its cost savings will be passed on to market participants. The ASX could potentially deploy blockchain technology for other markets.

CORPORATES
ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, DIGITAL ASSET HOLDINGS LLC, STOCKBROKERS AND FINANCIAL ADVISERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED, NORTHERN TRUST COMPANY, DIGITALX LIMITED – ASX DCC, EUROZ SECURITIES LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NCC GROUP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, JP MORGAN AND COMPANY INCORPORATED

Bulls edge ahead in the battle for coming year

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 26 : 8-Dec-17

Investment banks are generally upbeat about the outlook for Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 in 2018. Credit Suisse and Macquarie Group both expect it to end the year at 6,500 points, while Citigroup has a year-end target of 6,400 point. In contrast, Morgan Stanley expects the index to end 2018 at just 5,800 points. Meanwhile, Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse believes that factors such as the potential for fiscal stimulus, a sharp rise in bond yields and rising capital investment to influence the direction of the sharemarket in 2018.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, BLOOMBERG LP, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Insuranceline tops satisfaction among risk and life insurers

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Dec-17

Insuranceline had the highest customer satisfaction rating among Australia’s 13 largest risk and life insurers in the year to October 2017, according to a Roy Morgan Single Source survey. Insuranceline’s satisfaction rating rose by 5.4% over the year, to 79.2%, which is well above the industry average of 66.2%. Insuranceline was followed by Allianz (75.2%), AIA Australia (73.2%) and Real Insurance (72.6%). The biggest improver during the year was AIA Australia (up 6.6% points), while major brands to show declines in satisfaction over the year were Asteron (down 12.2% points), Zurich (down 9.9% points) and Comminsure (down 4.2% points).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, INSURANCELINE HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ALLIANZ AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AIA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, REAL INSURANCE, ASTERON LIFE LIMITED, ZURICH INSURANCE COMPANY, COMMINSURE, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, MLC LIMITED

Macquarie tips Australian shares to beat Wall St in 2018

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 7-Dec-17

Jason Todd of Macquarie Group is upbeat about the outlook for the Australian sharemarket in 2018, forecasting that it will end the calendar year at 6,500 points. Todd expects the Australian bourse to outperform the US market in total return and local currency terms in 2018, following a stronger performance by Wall Street in 2017. However, he expects the S&P/ASX 200 to finish 2017 at 5,875 points, compared with around the 5,950-point level at present.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ADELAIDE BRIGHTON LIMITED – ASX ABC, DOWNER EDI LIMITED – ASX DOW, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC – ASX JHX, INCITEC PIVOT LIMITED – ASX IPL, SEEK LEARNING PTY LTD

Slow growth puts a brake on rate rises

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 26 : 7-Dec-17

The latest GDP data has prompted financial markets to price in an 84 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will increase the cash rate by the end of 2018, down from 94 per cent previously. The economy expanded by a lower-than-expected 0.6 per cent in the September 2017 quarter, while year-on-year growth rose from 1.9 per cent to 2.8 per cent. Meanwhile, growth in household consumption slowed to just 0.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Banks inquiry top concern of US investors

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 5-Dec-17

Shares in Australia’s major banks have fallen in the wake of the Federal Government’s decision to hold a royal commission into the sector. Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer says the issue of a royal commission has been a key concern for US investors in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the Opposition and the Australian Greens have urged the Government to broaden the inquiry’s terms of reference.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY