Insights and Research

Investing is confusing enough as it is – and it’s not helped when many of the ‘rules’ aren’t actually right. For one thing, following the crowd isn’t always a safe move – and the experts aren’t always right. And staying on top of your investments can actually be a bad thing, while playing it too safe will…

The Reserve Bank of Australia has failed to meet its inflation and employment target for what will soon be a decade. It has a list of excuses a kilometre long why this is the case. In the appearance of RBA Governor Philip Lowe and his Deputy Guy Debelle before the House of Representatives Standing Committee…

Global CEOs hired during the pandemic tended to have more C-suite experience, but this has come at the cost of female representation and diversity, new research has revealed. A recent report by executive recruitment firm Heidrick & Struggles (HSII) revealed chief executive appointments slowed down across four major economies during the pandemic, with fewer CEOs…

When it comes to investing, the main asset classes are cash, fixed interest, property, and shares. Importantly, each asset class (and sub-asset class) has its own unique characteristics (e.g. categorisation, focus, liquidity, expected rate of return, returns, risk level, and time horizon). Moreover, no one asset or type of asset provides the best performance over all time periods—they tend…

With health insurance premiums set to increase by an average of 2.74 per cent on 1 April, now is a good time to find out if you’re getting your money’s worth with your current health insurance policy. In some cases, premium increases could add an extra $112 on to your policy per year. Before the…

CPI figures released recently confirm indexation of the general transfer balance cap will occur on 1 July 2021. The general transfer balance cap is currently $1.6 million. From 1 July 2021, it will be indexed to $1.7 million. When the general transfer balance cap is indexed to $1.7 million, there will no longer be a single…

As parents grow older, they may require additional care and can find it hard to continue to maintain their own home. To deal with that, increasing numbers are moving into ‘granny flats’ within the homes of their children. That way, the parent maintains a degree of independent living, whilst having family carers on hand if…

Bitcoin (BTC) has become a mainstay in the headlines lately, with Tesla recently announcing the world’s largest corporate purchase of the cryptocurrency, and DogeCoin becoming the most tweeted-about crypto in a single day, thanks to Elon Musk. But while some people are still familiarising themselves with the digital currency, dubbed “digital gold”, others are an old hat at investing…

Coffee shops, restaurants, hair salons, holiday homes and caravan parks will be among the hardest-hit businesses if Google makes good on its threat to pull its Search function from Australia. These small- and medium-sized businesses rely heavily on its digital presence and the business’ ability to be found through web search, meaning Google Search’s withdrawal…