Investment Insights
EquitySuper Financial Adviser, Simon Whiteley provides a unique take on current economic events and issue in his Investment Insights articles.
See below for the most recent articles.
Paying penalty tax on your superannuation contributions just for being a little over zealous in helping reduce your reliance on Australian Taxpayers to fund your retirement via the age pension is a bit errr... rich. In this month's article, I am going to explain what constitutes a concessional contribution, what the contribution limits (i.e. contribution caps) are and what the penalty is for exceeding those limits. I hope to assist you to maximise your contributions this year and hopefully avoid breaching your caps.
Optimism has been the key driver of 2012 so far, and January did not let us down this year in delivering what investment markets across the globe call the January effect. There are a number of theories about how the January effect comes about, but within each there is a recurring theme of optimism and increased risk appetite. This has flowed through February for US share markets with an additional 4.4% gain for the month.
As a new year kicks off, opportunities seem endless and bright and a small percentage of us have implemented our New Year's resolutions and actually stuck with them (so far). It does not take long to forget the Christmas break and remember that we are living in a world of crisis. There has been a lot of bad news to reflect upon from tsunamis to civil wars and from stock market floors to debt ceilings, 2011 was a really tough year and we have all paid a little for our participation in a global economy with lightning fast information at our fingertips.
I am often reminded that my monthly newsletters are not a time to get on my soapbox, and my position on the topic is to remain neutral and unbiased. This month I will do my best to avoid a slap on the wrist as, in my view, the latest Goverment announcement regarding the future of superannuation is certainly a low point for 2011.
There have been some dark days for investors over the past few years. It is easier to lose sight of the bigger picture; what we are trying to achieve, and why we put ourselves through all the stress that a volatile share market inflicts upon us.
The noise behind recent sharemarket volatility does have some significant differences to the market crash from the GFC in 2008/09, regardless of the many commentators suggesting it is phase two of the same GFC.
With sharemarkets continuing to exhibit extreme volatility over the past year, Simon looks at residential property an an investment option.
Simon explains what constitutes a concessional contribution to assist you to maximise your contributions this year and hopefully avoid breaching your caps.
Simon discusses the importance of a long term, unemotional approach to investing.
Interview with Michael Dale, Investment Specialist at PIMCO. PIMCO is the world's largest Fixed Interest Fund Manager with over $1.2 trillion dollars of investment funds under management.
A discussion of the residential property market.
A look at some of the micro-issues and updates in Australia, including the validity of SMSFs, market & legislative updates, and what happens when you breach concessional contributions caps.
Amid the doom and gloom prophecies in today's headlines there are a number of reasons why we as investors should try not to get swept away by the momentum of negative sentiment. Simon takes a look at some of the global hot spots that will help to drive the next phase of recovery.
Simon looks at the after-effects of the global financial crisis on nations around the world and the road to recovery.
There are a number of rules of engagement when investing and possibly the most important one is to focus on your long-term investment strategy and do your best to filter out the barrage of background noise.
A look at some of the key points in this year's Federal Budget.
The Wealthpac Superannuation Service has successfully and consistently outperformed its peers continually for the past decade.In this article, Simon provides a qualitative analysis of the Wealthpac Investment Engine.
Simon discusses the TRIS strategy which utilises a special type of Account Based Pension which is non-commutable but allows you to access your Superannuation in the form of a pension even while you are working full time provided you are over 55 years of age.
Contact Simon Whiteley
Simon Whiteley can be contacted via email to simon.whiteley@eqtsuper.com or by telephone on 1300 659 799.