K: Financial and Insurance Services

Failing super funds retain 1m members

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 11-Nov-21

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that 1.1 million superannuation fund members have been advised that their fund has failed the new performance test. However, just 68,000 of these members responded by switching funds. Xavier O’Halloran of Super Consumers Australia says that some funds which failed the test have promoted benefits such as discounts on leisure activities in order to retain members. Brendan Coates of the Grattan Institute has in turn called for further reforms in the super sector, including the introduction of a shortlist of top-performing default super funds.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, SUPER CONSUMERS AUSTRALIA, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

NAB & CBA lead business banking satisfaction but biggest increase over the last year is by ANZ

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Nov-21

New research from Roy Morgan shows that small business owner banking satisfaction for the four major banks was at 69.9% in the 12 months to September 2021, down 0.4% points from a year ago. Although virtually unchanged on a year ago, small business owner banking satisfaction for the four major banks is up 1.2% points from February 2020 (68.7%), prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Satisfaction with National Australia Bank increased by 3.3% points from a year ago to 71.6%, and NAB now has the highest business owner banking satisfaction of the four major banks. Just behind NAB is the Commonwealth Bank, with a business owner banking satisfaction rating of 70.4%. However, the largest increase in satisfaction was achieved by the ANZ, up 5.1% points to 70.0%. Westpac is in fourth position with small business owner banking satisfaction of 66.9%. These are the latest findings from interviews with 2,443 small businesses owners in the 12 months to September 2021, as part of the Roy Morgan Business Owner Satisfaction Monitor regarding their level of satisfaction with the financial institution they deal with.

CORPORATES
ROA INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

ACCC green-lights Afterpay megadeal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Eyers, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 6-Nov-21

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has advised that it will not oppose the acquisition of ‘buy now, pay later’ provider Afterpay by US-based Square. The proposed $39bn deal will now be put to a virtual special meeting of Afterpay’s shareholders on 6 December, and chair Elana Rubin has urged them to support the transaction. The deal has also been approved by US antitrust regulators, and it is expected to be cleared by the Foreign Investment Review Board ahead of the shareholders’ meeting.

CORPORATES
AFTERPAY LIMITED – ASX APT, SQUARE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

‘Disappointing’: Big four banks to skip financial crime inquiry

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Charlotte Grieve
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 8-Nov-21

Labor Senator Deb O’Neill says it is "disappointing" that none of the big four banks have taken up an invitation to appear before a Senate inquiry into the effectiveness of Australia’s anti-money laundering regime. O’Neill was the instigator of the inquiry, which is looking at issues such as expanding the AML regime to cover professions such as lawyers and accountants, along with the effectiveness of the Australian Transaction Reports & Analysis Centre, which is the regulator of the AML regime. The big four banks – the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, the ANZ and the National Australia Bank – will instead be represented at the inquiry by the Australian Banking Association.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Judo kicks in first bank float in 25 years

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Aleks Vickovich, William McInnes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 2-Nov-21

Judo Capital Holdings’ shares closed at $2.26 on 1 November, compared with an issue price of $2.10. The owner of Judo Bank now has a market capitalisation of $2.5bn, making it Australia’s 162nd-biggest listed company. CEO Joseph Healy says Judo has a unique banking business model, and he emphasises that it does not regard itself as a fintech. Judo is focused on lending to small and medium enterprises, and it boasts a loan book worth around $4.4bn.

CORPORATES
JUDO CAPITAL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX JDO, JUDO BANK PTY LTD

Stapling workers to lazy super funds could cost them $300,000: AIST

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 : 28-Oct-21

More than $56bn of workers’ retirement savings are invested in default superannuation funds that recently failed a performance test. This test was introduced as part of the ‘Your Future, Your Super’ reforms, which also include "stapling" workers to one superannuation account throughout their career. The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees’ CEO Eva Scheerlinck has called for changes to the stapling regime to ensure that workers are not tied to a persistently underperforming fund.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF SUPERANNUATION TRUSTEES

Final tranche of Hayne reforms a milestone

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 28-Oct-21

The federal government will legislate to implement a further six recommendations arising from the Hayne royal commission on 28 October. The last tranche of legislation includes a bill to replace the Banking Executive Accountability Regime with the broader-based Financial Accountability Regime, which will also apply to the insurance and superannuation sectors. The government will also establish the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, which will eventually be fully funded via an industry level. Kenneth Hayne released his final report in February 2019.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Australian firms line up to launch inevitable local Bitcoin ETFs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic Powell
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 27-Oct-21

The lack of a custody regime for cryptocurrencies prevents the launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in Australia at present, although changes to the regulatory regime are expected in 2022. Betashares CEO Alex Vynokur says it is inevitable that a local Bitcoin ETF will be launched in Australia, adding that his firm would be interested in entering this market. Holon MD Heath Behncke says his firm would also be keen to launch a Bitcoin ETF. The world’s first listed Bitcoin ETF has performed well following its recent debut in the US.

CORPORATES
BETASHARES CAPITAL LIMITED, HOLON GLOBAL INVESTMENTS LIMITED

Fund managers swamped as IPO hopefuls line up

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by William McInnes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 27-Oct-21

Judo Bank and SiteMinder are among the companies with a market capitalisation of more than $1bn that will debut on the Australian sharemarket in coming weeks. Martin Hickson of 1851 Capital notes that at least seven companies with a market value of $1bn-plus are pursuing IPOs in the December quarter. Asset manager GQG Partners made its sharemarket debut on 26 October after raising $1.3bn in an IPO; the stock shed 2.5 per cent to close at $1.95, giving it a market capitalisation of $5.8bn.

CORPORATES
JUDO BANK PTY LTD, JUDO CAPITAL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX JDO, SITEMINDER LIMITED – ASX SDR, GQG PARTNERS INCORPORATED – ASX GQG, 1851 CAPITAL PTY LTD

Future Fund just shy of $200b after 1.2pc quarter

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 26-Oct-21

The federal government’s Future Fund has posted a return of 1.2 per cent for the September quarter, following a record gain of 10.2 per cent for the three months to June. Australian shares gained 5.34 per cent in the September quarter, while international shares gained 4.68 per cent and emerging market shares lost 4.17 per cent. The Future Fund reduced its exposure to global shares during the quarter, while its allocation to infrastructure and private equity assets increased; the latter is now its biggest asset class. The sovereign wealth fund boasts nearly $200bn worth of assets under management.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY