K: Financial and Insurance Services

ANZ’s Whelan will divest Asian bank stakes next

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Original article by Lisa Murray
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 2-Nov-16

The ANZ Bank will further scale back its presence in Asia after securing a deal to offload some of its retail banking and wealth management assets in the region. Mark Whelan, the head of institutional banking, says ANZ is making progress on selling some of its minority stakes in four Asian banks. He says these stakes are deemed to be non-core assets, but he stresses that ANZ is "reshaping" its Asian operations rather than withdrawing from the region. ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott has signalled that institutional banking will be the focus of its Asian operations.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SHANGHAI RURAL COMMERCIAL BANK, BANK OF TIANJIN COMPANY LIMITED, PT BANK PAN INDONESIA TBK, AMMB HOLDINGS BHD, DBS BANK LIMITED

Cashed-up fund cools on property

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Original article by Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: 24 : 1-Nov-16

The Future Fund has posted a return of 1.5 per cent for the September 2016 quarter. Its cash holdings rose by 0.4 per cent to 22.1 per cent, compared with just 15.1 per cent for the same period in 2015. The sovereign wealth fund lifted its portfolio’s weighting toward equities by 0.6 per cent to 29.4 per cent, while its exposure to property and private equity fell. MD David Neal says the Future Fund is likely to maintain its risk-adverse profile. Its assets under management totalled $A124.65bn at the end of the quarter.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, PORT OF MELBOURNE

Banks on S&P negative watch over hot property

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 15 : 1-Nov-16

Factors such as rising household debt and residential property prices have prompted Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Australia’s economic risk trends. The firm has also downgraded the credit rating outlook of 25 local lenders to "negative". S&P downgraded the major banks’ rating outlooks to "negative" in mid-2016, but it has not yet made any further changes. However, their "AA-" credit ratings could be reviewed, particularly if Australia implements new global regulations regarding bank bailouts.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ cuts back Asian footprint

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 21 & 24 : 1-Nov-16

CEO Shayne Elliot says the ANZ Bank will eventually offload more of its retail banking operations in Asia, after striking a deal to sell its retail and wealth assets in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan and Indonesia. ANZ has not revealed the price of the transaction, although it says Singapore-based DBS Bank will pay $A110m more than the book value of the assets. ANZ will incur a $A265m net loss on the transaction, while it will also slightly affect its earnings per share and return on equity. ANZ expanded its presence in Asia under previous CEO Mike Smith.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, DBS BANK LIMITED, ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Commodities up but $A stuck at US77c

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Original article by Jens Meyer
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 1-Nov-16

The rally in the price of coking and thermal coal since early August 2016 has bolstered Australia’s terms of trade. However, the Australian dollar has been largely range-bound over this period, and it has not been able to achieve a sustained rise above the $US0.77 level. The currency has not benefited from growing expectations that the Reserve Bank will leave official interest rates on hold in the near-term. Sean Callow of Westpac expects the currency to test the $US0.70 level by the December 2017 quarter.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND

Clinton victory and divided Congress ‘best for shares’

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 16 : 1-Nov-16

UBS suggests that in terms the outlook for equities, the best outcome of the US election would be if Hillary Clinton becomes president but neither party has control of Congress. Wingate Asset Management’s Chad Padowitz notes that health stocks in particular could be sold down if the Democrats control both houses. Historical analysis by AMP Capital shows that since 1927, US equities have delivered better returns when a Democrat has been in the White House but one or both houses of Congress have been controlled by the Republican Party.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, WINGATE ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UNITED STATES), REPUBLICAN PARTY (UNITED STATES), STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, SANOFI PHARMACEUTICALS, DELTEC ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, CHICAGO BOARD OPTIONS EXCHANGE VOLATILITY INDEX, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Banks charged customers $180m for no financial advice

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 28-Oct-16

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has released a report on the dubious practices of financial advisers aligned with the "big four" banks and AMP. ASIC found that many customers had been charged for financial advice between August 2013 and December 2015, but they did not receive any such advice. ASIC noted that most of these cases occurred prior to the implementation of the Future of Financial Advice reforms. It is estimated that about 200,000 customers will be entitled to total compensation of some $A178m.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION

Dr Doom says ‘a serious recession desirable’ for the West

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 31 : 28-Oct-16

Investment expert Marc Faber notes that global economic power has shifted from the developed world to emerging economies in recent decades. He adds that trade between Asian countries has also become much bigger than the region’s exports to the US. Faber also suggests that the financial sector still accounts for too much of the economy in Western nations, and a major recession may be beneficial for developed countries. He says mining stocks and emerging market equities offer good value at present compared with their peers.

CORPORATES
BLOOMBERG LP

Trump might win, and beware the turmoil

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 26-Oct-16

Hedge fund expert Jim Rogers says global financial market volatility is likely regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election. Rogers adds that a number of other factors will also contribute to looming financial market turbulence. He cautions against investing in bonds, and says investors should seek exposure to the agricultural sector, including farmland and agricultural futures. Rogers also says the Australian Government should take action to address the nation’s growing debt.

CORPORATES
QUANTUM FUND NV, APPLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, PARAWAY PASTORAL COMPANY LIMITED

Perth fundies see more upside in resources

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 24-Oct-16

Australia’s S&P/ASX 300 Metals & Mining Index has gained 45.3 per cent so far in 2016, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 has risen by just 6.2 per cent. The rebound in the share prices of resources and energy stocks has rewarded investors who capitalised on a sell-off in the sector earlier in the year. WestOZ Funds Management has been progressively lifting its funds’ weightings toward the sector over recent months, while scaling back their exposure to cash.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 300 METALS AND MINING INDEX, WESTOZ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WESTOZ INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED – ASX WIC, PACKER AND COMPANY INVESTIGATOR TRUST, NORILSK NICKEL, CAMECO CORPORATION, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL – ASX IGO, WESTERN AREAS LIMITED – ASX WSA, SANDFIRE RESOURCES NL – ASX SFR