Mark Beyer

ONE of the interesting trading strategies involving instalment warrants is known as cash extraction.It is designed for investors who currently hold shares and want to free up some cash.

THE Australian warrants market continues to attract interest from investors and traders, with highly leveraged instalment warrants ‘coming of age’ last year.

SALARY packaging is a practice normally associated with high-income earners with executive cars and the latest laptop computers.

AUSTRALIA’S fledgling exchange traded fund (ETF) market has continued its steady growth with the launch of the first property-based product.

LIFE insurance is a bit like retirement planning. It doesn’t seem relevant when you are young, but at some point you realise that it needs to be sorted out.

MANY Australians have a very narrow approach to personal investment. In most cases, it simply involves gearing into rental properties and buying one or two blue chip shares via a privatisation (Telstra or Commonwealth Bank) or demutualisation (AMP).

THE timing and strength of the US economic recovery is shaping up as the key driver of Australian interest rates over the coming 12 months.

A REBOUND in ASX-listed IT companies has been forecast by Commonwealth Research, after two years of big losses.

WITH the dust having settled on 2001, some salient lessons have emerged for investors.For most people, 2001 will be remembered as a time of political and commercial up-heaval.

SELF-MANAGED superannuation funds have recently received a timely reminder about the hoops they must jump through to satisfy the regulators.

GEARING is widely accepted as a sound strategy for investors who want to increase their market exposure.In simple terms, it means borrowing money in order to buy income-producing assets, typically shares or property.

THE recent spate of corporate collapses and the wave of corporate downsizing now under way are forcing many people to suddenly confront their retirement prospects.

LAST week’s article discussed hedge funds and some of the innovative investment strategies they employ to achieve their goals.Both...

HEDGE funds, once the pre-serve of wealthy individuals and institutions, are now readily available to Australian retail investors.

MOST share market analysis focuses on Australia’s large companies and, as a result, neglects the numerous smaller companies listed on the ASX.To some extent this is understandable.

WHILE most people have an abundance of housing loan options, many individuals do not fit the standard criteria of mainstream lenders.

MONITOR Money has become the fourth Australian financial advisory network owned by AXA Asia Pacific.AXA announced last week the purchase of Monitor Money and a leading New Zealand advisory group, Spicers, for $201 million.

HOW much money will I need in retirement? This is one of the key questions people should ask as they save for a comfortable retirement, but also one of the hardest to answer.

A NEW survey has found that most Australians are failing to save enough to achieve their own financial goals in retirement.

A GOVERNMENT discussion paper has floated major changes to rules governing superannuation funds, while at the same time acknowledging that potential problems are focused on a small sub-set of funds.

INVESTORS with a self-managed super fund have been presented with some new alternatives that aim to retain the benefits of a do-it-yourself approach but without the hassles.

THE rapid growth of master funds has been one of the defining trends in financial services during the past decade.Wrap accounts, which provide essentially the same service, also have attracted keen support in recent years.

ONLY about one quarter of Australians with superannuation are making personal contributions, a new survey has found.

ONLINE share traders are an optimistic bunch, judging by the results of the inaugural Sanford Trading Activity Report.

ONE of the frustrating aspects of superannuation is the difficulty we have working out the impact of the various fees and charges.

THE collapse of the Corrections Corporation Staff Superannuation Fund (CCA) stemmed mainly from the forced sale of one major asset, a new report has found.

THE practice of salary packaging has continued to be surprisingly popular, despite the introduction of the fringe benefits tax in the mid 1980s.The FBT has greatly reduced the scope for packaging but has certainly not ended the practice.

WHILE packaging can be advantageous, it is not always the best option, even for high-income earners.

THE overall winner of this year’s ASSIRT Service Level survey was the Navigator master fund.

IN the current financial climate the launch of a new online investment and share trading service seems an unlikely proposition.

The cheapest option is to prepare the will yourself. Do-it-yourself kits with instructions and sample wills can be bought from newsagents or via web sites like www.legalwills.com.au for between $25 and $40.

DO you have a will? If so, is it up to date? While many people will answer ‘yes’ to the first question, most of these will reply in the negative to the second.