Funds Focus

I recently had a client approach me asking my thoughts on a Private bank offering them 8% for a 3 year term deposit held in USD.

My initial thoughts were it’s a scam,8%pa seems ridiculously high for deposits in AUD, but 8%pa in USD is ludicrous. Australian Term Deposits are around 4% for 3 years (with an RBA rate of 2.5% and the tailwind of cash hungry banks), by contrast, the US Fed Reserve rate is 0.25% and I would be surprised to see anything North of 2% but more likely around the 1%-1.5

Defined Benefits (DB) superannuation schemes are few and far between in Australia and offer a rare commodity in financial services: a guarantee which is paid for by the scheme and not the member.
In this article, we assess a DB scheme we consider to be “golden handcuffs” for anyone lucky enough to be a member of it – and how Holden employees can take advantage of this.

Each scheme differs, but DB schemes generally offer a guarantee of either a lump sum or income at retirement,

If you have read the press over the last month, you’ll likely be familiar with scandal surrounding The Edge betting syndicate, what is rumoured to be one of Australia’s largest Ponzi schemes.

Daily Telegraph coverage

You would be forgiven for thinking only the stupid or greedy have invested, but this is really a story about how our familiarity and trust in friends can override our ability to assess risk.

An adviser with first hand experience of the syndicate and shared their