Global share markets have performed strongly for the quarter ending 30 September 2012. Some key developments influencing markets at the moment include: Australian Cash Rate The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has dropped the official cash rate to 3.25% pa mainly due to a softening global economic outlook, slowing growth in China (and the developing world), and the need to stimulate the non-mining sectors of the Australian economy.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has reported that over the last few years, thousands of Australians have been the victim of frauds totalling $113 million. Below are several key strategies that you can employ to protect your investments against fraud: 1. Don't speak to cold callers: Many fraudsters will initiate contact with targets through
Global equity markets continued to be volatile in June 2012. Markets were generally up for the month after a negative month in May 2012. Some key developments influencing markets at the moment include: Fears related to the euro-zone’s debt crisis, eased in June as the pro-austerity party’s victory in the Greek election allayed the fears of
Australian House prices enjoyed a very strong boom over the last 20 years (with some moderation during the Global Financial Crisis [GFC]). But despite the fears during the GFC, house prices have not fallen sharply like those in the US and other parts of the world. Some key statistics on Australian house prices at the moment
The last financial year has been a disappointing one for both global and Australian shares. For the 12 months to 30 June 2012, global shares returned -5.4% (MSCI World (ex Aust) $A; source: AMP Capital Markets), while Australian shares again underperformed global shares returning -9.6% (S&P/ASX200 Accum Index; source: AMP Capital Markets) over the same
New July 2012 Super & Redundancy Thresholds From 1 July, 2012 the superannuation and bona fide redundancy thresholds that apply for the 2012-2013 tax year are: [fusion_old_table id=4 /] Marginal Income Tax Rates for Residents From 1 July, 2012 Personal Income tax rates from 1 July, 2012 will change to become: [fusion_old_table id=5 /] Above
Market Update Global equity markets have performed poorly over April and May due to renewed concerns over Eurozone sovereign debt issues. Key issues remain – will Greece maintain the Euro currency and will Spain be able to continue to meet its debt obligations. Some key developments influencing markets at the moment include: The International Monetary
This Newsletter is provided to Harvest clients, Policy Committees and corporate contacts to keep you and your employees better informed on matters regarding super and wealth. It is not a comprehensive summary. For further information, contact Mario Isaias, Noel Hucker or Inbam Devadason of Harvest on 02 8908 4300. Drop in Concessional Cap for over
Market Update Global equity markets continued to perform strongly over February and March boosted by resolution of the latest Greek sovereign debt deal and data indicating that the US economic recovery is gaining some momentum. However, balancing this news has been the slowing of the Chinese economy and a slight reduction in commodity prices which
An insightful article in the Weekend Business edition of the Sydney Morning Herald (10-11 March, 2012) quotes Jeremy Grantham of investment manager GMO (he's the "G" in GMO) quoting from "Investing advice from your Uncle Polonius"; the first part of GMO's latest quarterly newsletter to clients. In it, he espouses valuable strategies to deal with and profit when
