Australian Economic & Market Commentary Consistent with market expectations, the RBA decided to cut the official cash rate by 0.25% to a new record low of 1.25%. CBA and NAB were the only two of the four major banks to pass on the full 0.25% reduction while ANZ and Westpac elected to pass on only
Interest rate announcement - June 2019Last month, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held the cash rate at its record low of 1.5 per cent for the 30th month in a row, but minutes of the May meeting showed board members explicitly acknowledged the likelihood of a cut if unemployment did not fall. Official
The end of the financial year is coming, and so too is that one thing everybody dreads doing – their tax return. Even though your tax return can be lodged up to 31 October 2019, you may need to act now to implement some of the tax reduction and wealth building strategies outlined in this
Interest rate announcement - May 2019Today the Reserve Bank of Australia met to review the official cash rate. After last cutting rates in August 2016, the RBA have again decided to keep the cash rate on hold at 1.50% this month. Inflation is at 1.8% which is within the RBA’s target range of between
In 2017, we experienced a relatively benign year for investors with diversified portfolios. Returns were solid, with the typical Balanced super fund returning about 10% and volatility was low. So coming into 2018 confidence was high. But what transpired was an increase in volatility and in October and November, a strong correction in share prices
Interest rate announcement - March 2019Today the Reserve Bank of Australia met to review the official cash rate. After last cutting rates in August 2016, the RBA have again decided to keep the cash rate on hold at 1.50% this month. Inflation is at 1.8% which is within the RBA’s target range of between
Interest rate announcement - February 2019Today the Reserve Bank of Australia met to review the official cash rate. After last cutting rates in August 2016, the RBA have again decided to keep the cash rate on hold at 1.50% this month. Inflation is at 2.1% which is within the RBA’s target range of between
2018 was a year characterised by high volatility and ultimately poor returns in markets across the board. After a strong start in early January 2018, volatility returned with a vengeance in February and October, with US markets experiencing their biggest fall since 2016. Markets remained somewhat volatile throughout the remainder of the year, causing majority
