Mark Beyer

THE lure of opening a popular new cafe or restaurant continues to attract many aspiring business operators.And despite the two-year-old ‘tech wreck’ on the stock market, computing and the Internet are also growth areas for new business operators.The..

AUSTRALIAN investors can expect to hear a lot more about absolute return funds in future.Absolute return is the increasingly common, and more illuminating, name for hedge funds.

THE editorial team at WA Business News has been strengthened with the appointment of Mark Beyer (right) as senior journalist.

RESIDENTIAL property has delivered very pleasing returns for investors over the past few years, in stark contrast to the dismal returns from shares.

NOW is not the time for investors to abandon ‘growth’ assets such as shares and property.

RESEARCHERS in the US are focusing not on investment fundamentals but investor psychology to explain the wild swings in investment markets.

AMP has kicked along the rapid growth of Australia’s ‘hybrid’ securities market with its offer of up to $1.15 billion of ‘reset preferred securities’ (RPS).

THE weakness in global share markets has created a fertile environment for promoters of capital guaranteed share investment loans.

TWO very different – and in one case groundbreaking – competitors have entered the corporate superannuation market this month.The groundbreaker is REST, one of Australia’s largest ‘industry’ super funds. It has become the first industry fund to esta...

A FEW months is a long time in financial markets, as investors who switched to fixed rate housing loans will have discovered to their cost.

AUSTRALIAN investors can select from a small but growing number of ‘index’ funds.Vanguard Investments, the global pioneer of index funds, offers an Australian Share Fund, which aims to track the S&P/ASX 300 index, before fees and expenses.

THE average investor in managed funds has earned less than one third of the overall stockmarket return, a new US study has found.

THE growing popularity of master funds and wrap accounts has been one of the main themes of the managed funds industry over recent years.Westpac CEO David Morgan acknowledged as much when he announced the purchase of BT Financial Group last month.

WESTPAC’S purchase of BT Financial Group last month has reinforced the dominance of a handful of big players in retail funds management.

CENTRAL bankers are renowned for making obscure comments that market watchers struggle to un-ravel.Australia’s Reserve Bank may be trying to break the mould judging by the relative clarity of its recent pronouncements.

THE positive returns achieved by most listed investment companies last financial year (see main article) has not been matched by managed equity funds.

AUSTRALIA’S listed in-vestment companies mostly defied the sharp downturn in equity markets to post positive returns last year.

ADMINISTRATION platforms may not sound like an exciting concept, but they are generating hot competition in the financial planning industry.

SEPARATELY managed accounts are a relatively new product in Australia, but investors can expect to hear a lot more about them in the future.

THE latest prospectus from investment manager Direct-Portfolio neatly illustrates some of the emerging trends in investment styles.

THE Federal Government has started cranking up its campaign to give workers the right to select their own superannuation fund.

ASSISTANT Treasurer Helen Coonan has dismissed concerns that Australia’s superannuation system will leave many people with inadequate retirement incomes.

EVERY time interest rates move up or down, most of the media commentary invariably focuses on the impact on homebuyers.

WHEN the Reserve Bank decided earlier this month to leave interest rates unchanged, it caught most pundits by surprise.

THE impact of commissions continues to be one of the most contentious issues in the financial planning industry.

PUBLIC surveys consistently show that accountants and family or friends are the most common sources of financial and investment advice.

AUSTRALIAN superannuation funds produced their worst returns on record in 2001-02 and have a “higher than normal” probability of posting negative returns again this year, according to consulting group InTech.

THE unexpected strength of the Australian dollar has been bad news for investors in international shares and the prospect is for more of the same.

PLATINUM Asset Management is a conspicuous success story among managers of international equity funds.In fact, it is the only main-stream investment manager to have achieved positive returns from international equities over the past 12 months.

THE Australian IT sector produced another dismal performance over the past 12 months, according to Commonwealth Securities.

ETHICAL investors who have steered clear of wine and beer companies would be crying into their carrot juice, judging by the results of a new study.

TRUSTEES of superannuation funds need to tread very carefully if they offer an ethical or socially responsible investment option, the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation has warned.