ASIC

Unless you have well and truly been hiding under a rock for the past fortnight, you are likely getting sick of hearing about the whole GameStop debacle unfolding in the US, between some millennial Reddit users and just about the whole of Wall St. Since the story broke the GameStop (NYSE: GME) share price, which…

Managed discretionary accounts (MDAs), or managed portfolios as they are more commonly known, have grown in popularity in recent years, primarily on the back of demand from financial advisers to assist in managing their clients’ capital. Yet few still understand how they actually work and what benefits they can provide investors and advisers alike. In…

I’ll do my best to avoid cliches, but to say 2020 was difficult would be an understatement. There is little doubt that we are all sick of hearing terms like ‘pivot’, ‘WFH’, or ‘iso’. Yet as we emerge, hopefully, from the darkest period for worldwide health and worldwide economic uncertainty in living memory [remember there…

Following forceful questioning by shareholders at its annual meeting last month, comes news that a class action against IOOF, undertaken by Shine Lawyers, has progressed through the funding stage. A previous proposed action, through lawyers Quinn Emanual, was dropped early this year. Patrick Liddy, the principal of MSI Group consultants, and Shine Lawyers have been…

Geoff Wilson of Wilson Asset Management fame and the Stock Brokers and Financial Advisers Association have joined with the SMSF Association in attempting to get fairer access for small investors in company capital raisings. ASIC is in their sights. In a webinar organised by the SMSF body yesterday (November 25), coinciding with SMSF Week, Geoff…

New retail investors entered the sharemarket in droves over the first six months of the pandemic’s impact. Contrary to widely held views, for the most part, on average, they did very well. Very well indeed. But one has to be careful of averages. They can often mask skews from big single numbers and rarely do…

A new date has entered share market history – 9 March, 2020. This day gave us the worst one-day drop on US markets since the GFC-inspired crash of 2008, with a global pandemic and an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia the dual triggers. Since then, share markets globally have clawed back some…

Over a year ago I made some comment on breaking news that Dixon Advisory, the wealth arm of listed wealth giant Evans Dixon (ASX: ED1), had been publicly called to task on recommendations for clients to invest in several of its in-house investment products that had performed poorly. One particularly egregious performer was its heavily recommended…

The Australian Corporate Bond Company, which introduced single-issue liquid, exchange-traded, corporate bonds for Australian retail investors from its formation in 2013, is now expecting to take off having finally received an unrestricted license from ASIC. The full license was a battle which took place concurrently with the four-year battle against cancer by the company’s founder,…

Superannuation members should be on high alert if using third parties to consolidate or locate their super to ensure the safety of their retirement savings. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), in conjunction with the Australian Tax Office (ATO), has identified a number of advisers, trustees and fund promoters that are marketing consolidation services…