Much has been written recently about the relative merits of taking an active approach or just letting your funds track an index. The growth of passive funds has been extraordinary. The head of Vanguard in Australia was in the news last week as the FUM have grown to $5.4 trillion. $2.9 trillion is tracking indices…
When I started broking in 1982 there were no personal computers let alone email or online broking. Everyone used full service broking because they had to. Now you don’t have to but the industry still exists and if you talk to most people about full service brokers they will immediately launch into the terrible experiences…
Thanks to compulsory superannuation most people are invested in managed funds. You didn’t really make a choice to invest in managed funds but courtesy of the cozy relationship between employers and fund managers almost all of you tick that little box that says “put my super in your default fund” when you are employed. The…
I cannot tell you how many times I have read that you double your money in Australian property investment every ten years. It is the core assumption in all property marketing it seems. Of course to make any money out of that implied 7 per cent return per annum your rent has to cover your…
From 1941 to the low in 1974, the average annual compound return on the All Ordinaries Index for 33 years was 2.9 per cent per annum. Take off inflation of 4 per cent and you were going backwards. And that doesn’t include 1929 to 1941, which would have pulled it even lower. In the next…
I ask for Stupid Questions in my newsletter and I get them. Here’s one memorable one: “I have $10,000 and want to turn it into a million dollars. How do I do it?” You’re thinking “How Stupid” but there are no stupid questions in this game and if you think about it, it’s actually a…
