Funds Focus

With an underlying deficit of $57.6 billion and the Government not expecting to see a return to surplus until 2015/16, this year’s Federal Budget focused on stimulating the economy and protecting jobs.

The budget includes a number of changes to taxation, superannuation and government pension benefits. Key changes include:

Reducing superannuation salary sacrifice concessions from 1 July 2009.

Where to next?
Having suffered the worst calendar year for the ASX All Ordinaries index over the last century, we can assure ourselves that major falls are usually followed very quickly by some of the most significant sharemarket gains.
The sharemarket falls of 1973-74, 1981-82 and 1990 were all followed by some of the largest rises in sharemarket history.
The sharemarket has already factored in a severe downturn in the economy. Whether it materialises to the extent that the market has