Bonds are not usually the flashy upstarts of the investment world with their every move reported, like stocks. But the Trump Administration’s extraordinary refashioning of world trade, with on-again off-again tariffs of eye watering amounts, has put bond markets in a similar position to share markets – in turmoil. So, with the bond markets attracting more attention than usual, we take a closer look at the asset class. What is a bond? A bond is a bit like an interest-only loan ...

How Financial Advice can pay good dividends during tough times In a period of market instability due to COVID and low interest rates, many investors are struggling to know where to invest.  For those at or nearing retirement, the struggle is even greater.  Cash and term deposits used to be considered a safe haven, but with interest rates at historical lows, more investors are being pushed to consider alternative investments. It may be tempting to jump on the latest trending in...

Keeping the economy moving The Morrison Government's mind-bogglingly large support packages to get Australians through the COVID-19 shutdown have dominated headlines, and rightly so. Only months ago, the Australian economy was in relatively good shape and headed for a Budget surplus. It's not just the Government that has swung into action. Behind the scenes, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has also pulled out all stops to keep the economy moving.  RBA monetary policy is...

Sticking to investment principles The reporting on COVID-19 has caused panic and fear across global markets and economies. The topic is now a permanent fixture across all aspects of media. From a financial perspective, there are two possible paths: 1. A recession across multiple countries driven by a partial shutdown of industry and the workforce; or 2. An economic recovery driven by a two-pronged fiscal and monetary stimulus from governments, coupled with a realisation that the vir...

Now is not the time to try and time the markets     After showing great resilience, and perhaps a degree of complacency, equity markets have fallen sharply in recent days. A relatively sudden surge of confirmation of corona virus outbreaks outside of China has been the main trigger for the correction. However, Apple's removal of previous earnings guidance and a deterioration in some leading economic indicators (such as the preliminary reading of the U.S. Purchasing Mana...