Issue: 15th October 2021 The inflation drums grow louder every day. This week former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said the US economy is overheating, and a shortage of Labor is another factor pushing up prices. He criticised the Federal Reserve's lack of action as inflation surges. The International Monetary Fund says the global economy is entering a phase [...]

Issue: 1st October 2021 Over the course of the last 12 months, the world has progressed through three broad phases of a recovery. The first, occurring in Q2 and Q3 of last year was around the growing understanding of the COVID virus and its management through containment measures. Large cap, growth biased stocks benefited at this time. The second phase, [...]

Issue: 17th September 2021 The September curse strikes again. The S&P/ASX 200 has fallen nearly 2 per cent since the start of the month and is down 3 per cent from a peak a month ago, placing the benchmark on track for its first monthly loss since September last year. The decline comes despite increasingly good news on vaccination rates, [...]

Issue: 3rd September 2021 Next Thursday, the FinSec team head off for our annual offsite. In FinSec terms, this means two constructive days away from the office as a team, workshopping our processes, improving on our client journeys and planning out the year ahead. As our offices back onto the showgrounds, normally, offsite is an escape from the hustle and [...]

Issue: 20th August 2021 U.S. equities traded in a volatile session overnight, as investors assess the Fed’s likely taper later this year, rising cases of COVID-19 and deaths in the U.S. and ongoing pressure on supply chains. Details from the July meeting of the US central bank showed most policymakers judged that it could be appropriate to start reducing the [...]

Issue: 6th August 2021 It's a good time to be in the Australian share market! Despite all the lockdowns, the end of July saw the ASX notch up its 10th consecutive month of gains (a little over 1% in July), equalling its record, and is tipped to deliver a buoyant August earnings season. The most recent time investors enjoyed a [...]

Issue: 23rd July 2021 We started these fortnightly missives to help keep our community informed during last year's lockdown. So much has happened in the 18 months since. Both the economy and markets have staged remarkable recoveries, but here we are faced with a lockdown once again. As we contemplate what to do with ourselves over the coming days (our [...]

Issue: 9th July 2021 The 2021 Intergenerational Report is in. The 2021 Intergenerational Report (IGR) was released on the 28th June revealing the treasurers educated guess at what Australia will look like in 2060. It is a five-yearly reminder that, without action, an ageing population, and other issues will leave public finances looking ugly. To use Treasurer Frydenberg's own word, [...]