K: Financial and Insurance Services

Super complaints soar 32pc: watchdog

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Hannah Wootton, Lucy Dean
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 2-Nov-23

Data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority shows that the number of complaints it received about superannuation funds rose by 32 per cent in 2022-23. This includes a 136 per cent increase in complaints regarding delays in processing insurance and death benefit claims. Super Consumers Australia director Xavier O’Halloran notes that some super fund members have had to wait for more than a year to have these claims paid out, and he has called for regulatory action to force super funds to process claims more promptly.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY, SUPER CONSUMERS AUSTRALIA

Over 1.57 million Australians are now At Risk of ‘mortgage stress’, representing 30.3% of mortgage holders

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Nov-23

New research from Roy Morgan shows that a record high 1,573,000 mortgage holders (30.3%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to September 2023; this is 7,000 higher than in August. The period encompassed three RBA meetings at which interest rates were left unchanged. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 766,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. The number of mortgage holders considered ‘Extremely At Risk’ is now numbered at 1,043,000 (20.5%) which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 15 years of 15.3%. 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

Economists warn Cup Day rate rise may not be last

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 1-Nov-23

The general consensus of economists polled by the Australian Financial Review is that the Reserve Bank will increase the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent on 7 November. Nine of the 35 economists expect the cash rate to peak at 4.6 per cent, implying that there will be at least one more rate rise beyond November. They include Challenger’s chief economist Jonathan Kearns, who was previously the central bank’s head of domestic markets. However, independent economist Stephen Koukoulas expects the cash rate to remain on hold for a fifth consecutive month in November.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF

Watchdog puts super funds on conflict notice

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Geoff Chambers, Jess Malcolm
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Oct-23

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has reiterated that the nation’s superannuation funds must comply with their regulatory requirements, such as acting in the best financial interests of their members and avoiding conflicts of interests. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has raised concerns about Cbus’s decision to invest $500m in the federal government’s Housing Australia Future Fund in late 2022. Bragg alleged that Cbus chairman Wayne Swan has a conflict of interests, given that he is Labor’s president and a former federal treasurer. Bragg notes that Cbus is the only super fund that has committed to investing in the HAFF.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND

Medibank to trial four-day work week

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jessica Yun
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 23-Oct-23

Health insurer Medibank Private will shortly commence a six-month trial of the 100:80:100 model, whereby employees retain 100 per cent of their salary for 80 per cent of their time, in exchange for a commitment productivity of 100 per cent. Some 250 employees will participate in the four-day working week trial, with a view to eventually rolling it out across the company. Professor Bronwen Dalton from the University of Technology, Sydney has praised Medibank’s initiative, but she believes that the length of the trial and the number of participants should be increased.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Australians are increasingly approaching other companies before renewing their household insurance

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Oct-23

New data from Roy Morgan reveals that fewer Australians are renewing their household insurance without approaching other companies, due to increasing cost of living pressures. In the year to June 2023 only 66.1% of the 29 million household insurance policies were renewed without even approaching another company, down from 66.5% in the year to June 2022 and 67.2% in the year to June 2021. Over a fifth of household insurance policies, 23.2%, were renewed after approaching other companies, up 1.1% points from a year ago, while there is also an increasing market for new entrants to the market with 4.3% of household insurance policies taken out for the first time, up 0.4% points from two years ago. These are some of the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source insurance data derived from in-depth personal interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians per annum.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

INSURANCE POLICIES – AUSTRALIA]

$21.7b dividend windfall set to land

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tom Richardson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 26-Sep-23

BHP tops the list of Australian companies that will pay dividends in the final week of September. The resources group accounts for $6.34bn of the $21.7bn worth of dividends that investors will receive in coming days. Commonwealth Bank shareholders will in turn receive a combined $4bn worth of dividends, while Fortescue Metals Group’s payout will be about $3.01bn. Cyan Investment Management portfolio manager Dean Fergie expects fewer shareholders to invest their dividends in equities, given that banks are offering much better returns on cash deposits compared with recent years.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, CYAN INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Deal activity dives as rates hit hard

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 22-Sep-23

Data from Refinitiv shows that mergers and acquisitions involving Australians companies has totalled $US81.3bn so far in 2023, which is 27 per cent lower than at the same time in 2022. Investment banks’ advisory fees for completed M&A deal are 62 per cent lower than the same period in 2022, at $US354m. Underwriting fees for equity and debt capital market transactions have in turn fallen by 16 per cent and nine per cent respectively. Nick Sims from Goldman Sachs Australia expects deal-making activity to pick up for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024, in the absence of any macroeconomic or geopolitical shocks.

CORPORATES
REFINITIV AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Super returns lower in August

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Chris Herde
The Australian – Page: 15 : 13-Sep-23

SuperRatings estimates that the median balanced superannuation fund posted a return of minus 0.1 per cent in August, after gaining 1.5 per cent in July. The research house also expects the median growth fund to have lost 0.3 per cent in August. Executive director Kirby Rappell says monthly returns are likely to continue to "bounce around" in the near-term, due to ongoing market uncertainty. He has emphasised the need for super fund members to focus on the long-term performance.

CORPORATES
SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD

Top economists see end to rate hikes, predict house price recovery

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Millie Muroi
The Age – Page: Online : 13-Sep-23

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s chief economist Stephen Halmarick says a falling inflation rate means that official interest rates have now most likely peaked. He expects consumer spending to begin to decline by the end of 2023, prompting the Reserve Bank to start easing monetary policy in 2024. Halmarick also forecasts that house prices will rise by seven per cent in 2023 and a further five per cent in 2024, citing factors such as rising migration levels and housing supply constraints. Besa Deda from Westpac also suggests that interest rates may have peaked, and she expects the cash rate to begin falling in the second half of 2024.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA