News

Listed investment companies (LICs) and listed investment trusts (LITs) have attracted considerable criticism over the last few months — much of it justified.

One of the important disciplines in constructing a portfolio is about achieving both balance and diversification within and among asset classes. This is set according to an investor’s objectives and their appetite for risk.

It is not about buying a product simply because it is offered. Every product must fit a portfolio and be allocated within its asset class appropriately. There is a conflict in how these products are being sold and investors need to have their eyes open.

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Will Hamilton joined James Kirby in The Money Cafe for a chat about the outlook for a SMSF renaissance, the property landscape, and a series of tricky listener questions.

Post the upset election result, Robert Gottliebsen suggested investors had “dodged an incredibly dangerous bullet” with the surprise victory for the Coalition. While we agree with his view, it would be a great shame if those investors with a strong home bias do not now grasp the absolute risk they are exposing themselves to. This is an opportunity to look at a more dedicated asset allocation philosophy going forward.

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The return of the coalition government is not something we foresaw, and we were very concerned with the ALPs tax policies for our clients.

Just because the status quo is maintained politically, does not mean those investors with heavy exposure to Australian equities and Australian dollar cash should stick with their existing strategy, investors should look to establish more disciplined asset allocation in their investment decisions.

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One of the positive outcomes from the franking credit debate is the decision by some investors to establish more disciplined asset allocation in their investment decisions and, indeed, to look more closely at international equities.

When looking at buybacks and dividends in the US market as total payouts, the real situation debunks the common view that Australian companies have a high payout ratio relative to US equities.

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Great article by Damon Kitney, covering some of the points discussed at our breakfast held on the 8th May with Paul Howes.

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The wealth wars took a bitter turn when Labor leader Bill Shorten, in full campaign mode, described tax deductions for accounting advice as “one of the rorts we want to shut down”.

Our country is built on innovation and with that comes the need to structure businesses legally and efficiently, the proposed cap of $3,000 on deducting accounting fee’s will discourage new business creation and entrepreneurship.

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While very few Australians are amongst the “super wealthy” many ordinary people employ tax accountants to help them with their management and yes, the fees are tax deductible. Our country is built on innovation and through that innovation comes the need to structure businesses legally and efficiently. The result being jobs created in our country and increased tax revenue for the government to spend on education, health and essential services. Indeed, the ATOs own figures which are publicly available, indicate even those on large incomes don’t “spend millions” on their tax accountant.

But our federal opposition wants to restrict accounting fees as a deductible expense to $3,000.

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Our Managing Partner, Will Hamilton is interviewed by George and Paul on 2GB, on his article in The Australian last Tuesday 16th April.

As the federal election draws nearer, potential tax changes have ­become a dominant point of discussion. However, it seems the biggest concern of all is that potential increased layoffs, when combined with a reduction in hiring based around the cost of labour, could have a significant effect on our overall economy.

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