Mark Beyer

MANAGED funds, also known as unit trusts, are one of the most significant elements of Australia’s investment landscape.

THE most popular category of unit trusts last financial year was international share funds, according to the latest ASSIRT Market Share Report.

INVESTORS wanting to assess the growing range of ethical investment funds now have the assistance of a specialist ratings agency.

THERE are three main types of ethical screen that investment managers can apply.

A SURVEY by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has found poor compliance in the running of smaller mortgage schemes.

CASH management trusts have long been a popular option for savers and investors, but a new variant of the traditional product is attracting increased support.

CHALLENGER International was the star performer among professional managers of Australian shares in the year to June 2001.

AUSTRALIA’S superannuation funds have just produced their lowest annual returns for the past 10 years. And for the first time in a decade, inflation (6 per cent per annum) was higher than the median return.

ALL Western Australian workers have compulsory superannuation, but how many people have compared their super fund with the alternatives?

MORE than 30 online broking firms are currently chasing customers in Australia and, not surprisingly, the level of competition is fierce.

INVESTORS in two cash-based managed funds have received an untimely reminder that even ‘low risk’ investments can run into serious problems.

TWO financial and investment advisory groups, Johnson Taylor Potter (JTP) and DFS, changed hands last week.Bell Securities has effectively rescued JTP by injecting $15 million into the business to acquire a controlling stake.

FOR many investors, the past financial year will be remembered for the plunging share price of ‘blue chip’ stocks such as Telstra, Coles Myer and Lend Lease.

ADVERTISEMENTS for computer share trading software offering quick and easy returns have been hard to avoid over the past two to three years.

A NEW boutique financial services company has achieved early success in carving out a niche in the Western Australian market.

A POPULAR saying in financial planning circles is that “people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan”.One of the hindrances to good planning is that many people simply don’t know where to start.

PERTH investors wanting to buy international shares have, until recen-tly, faced major logistical challenges.

NEXT time you look at the performance of the Australian stockmarket, it might pay to look closely at how that performance is measured.

THE crackdown by the Australian Tax Office on agricultural investment schemes has led to a renewal of interest in gearing as a tax minimisation strategy.

DIVERSIFICATION is widely accep-ted as one of the fundamentals of good financial management: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, we are frequently told.But what does this mean in practice? How far should investors take the concept?

JAMES Doogue, one of the stalwarts of Perth’s financial planning community, is winding down his involvement in the industry.

SHARES versus property? It is a perennial topic of debate among Australian investors.

THIS year’s Federal Budget had good news for more than 100,000 investors in Listed Investment Companies (LICs).

JUDGING by the media coverage and public debate during the past year, the only tax change anybody seems to worry about is the introduction of the GST.

RESERVE Bank governor Ian Macfarlane has issued a warning about the regulation of 10,000 small and medium sized superannuation funds supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

RECENT controversy over tax-driven investment schemes has left many investors wondering if they should put money into this sector.

LAST week this column provided a broad introduction to the warrants market. This week, we discuss a number of trading and investment opportunities using warrants.

ROTHSCHILD Australia Asset Management has become the latest fund manager to enter the fast growing ethical investment field.

AUSTRALIA’S warrants market celebrates its 10th birthday this year, in good health and once again growing rapidly after the setback of 1999 and 2000.

A NEW investment product from Societe Generale illustrates the diversity of the warrants market.SG CaPELS are promoted as the first stock market investment guaranteed not to lose principal.

RISK-return trade-off is a phrase widely used in the investment industry. But what does it mean in practice? How does the average investor decide if their portfolio is generating suitable returns to justify the risk?

DEUTSCHE Financial Planning’s Perth office has officially adopted its new Godfrey Pembroke trading name.