The latest Sydney property market news

We currently assess the Sydney property market to be at the high end of fair value. We expect that it may have peaked during 2015, and if there is a price drop in 2016 that it will be modest. We anticipate the price drop to be in the vicinity of 5%. Our view on

Staying calm during a volatile market

Welcome to the New Year, we look forward to guiding you through the investment market in 2016. 2015 in review At home the broader Australian market (S&P ASX300) finished just 2.8% up for the calender year, trading between 5982 in late April to 4918 in late September. All major commodities continued to fall throughout the

US Federal Reserve increases interest rates

In what has been perhaps the most discussed and debated interest rate decision of all time, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) increased their Federal Funds target interest rate range by 0.25% to 0.25-0.5% at their December meeting. This is the first rate move since the Fed reduced its target rate range to a historic low

Socially Responsible Investment

Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) takes into consideration not only the financial returns of a company but the social impact it makes. This can involve various levels of social responsibility from sustainability themed investing, negative screening (avoiding certain types of companies, for example, alcohol, gaming and tobacco) to best practice in relation to environmental, social

Property purchase: get your ducks in a row

Being prepared at each stage of your property purchase can help to ensure everything runs smoothly, saving you a lot of time and stress. By now we have already discussed building your deposit, getting all the assistance available to you if you are a first home buyer and knowing how much you can borrow.

Investing for income in retirement

A large number of Australia’s population are approaching retirement age and looking for an income stream to fund their retirement. By law retirees aged between 65 and 74 need to drawdown a minimum of 5% of the value of their pension investments each year. Unfortunately, a conservative investment portfolio will generally provide a return below

How much can you borrow?

The first step in working out how much you can borrow is to determine your financial situation. This involves working out your net income, expenses and other commitments. It is important to make your budget realistic, and to include all your expenses. It is not worth understating your expenses and commitments as it may

Australian share market latest news

The Australian share market has experienced a very difficult period since March 2015. We have summarised some of the key impacts on Australian shares, looking at the macro level and micro level factors that are playing a part. Macro level factors Earnings growth: Over the next two years there is an expectation that the Australian