Hey Team,
Happy Monday.
Roundup for the week kicks off with earning season in the US this week, which naturally flowed onto the Australian markets. It left the ASX opening soft on Wednesday but the week ended well. The federal government announced further funding for NSW after it was announced that the Sydney lockdown will continue until the end of August. For those of you in lockdown, hang in there and stay safe!
Upcoming events:
Our Cryptocurrency Investing 101 event is coming up. For those of you in lockdown and those just keen to be across investments that might work better for you, now might just be the perfect time to learn more about cryptocurrency, how to invest smarter, money mistakes and a healthy dose of tips, tricks and hacks to help you take the smartest next step with your money.
Book your place here
- Cryptocurrency Investing 101 – Thursday 12th August 11:30 am -12:30 pm AEST
- Make More Money: Personal Investing 101 – Thursday 2nd September 1111:30 am2:30 pm AEST
- Finding the right investment for you – Thursday 16th September 11:30 am – 12:30 pm AEST
- How to be smarter with money – Thursday 14th October 11:30 am – 12:30 pm AEST
- Avoid key money mistakes – Thursday 4th November 11:30 am – 12:30 pm AEST
Share market wrap
This week saw the Australian share market reach another record high, off the back of better than expected employment data and the US continuing to pump money into financial markets through its bond-buying program.
Key sharemarket numbers:
- The ASX ‘All Ords’ (top 500 shares in Australia) finished the week 0.1% lower than last Friday, on 7,6664.20 points.
- The US ‘S&P500’ (Top 500 shares in America) finished the week 0.32% lower than last week (Friday AEDT), on 4,395.26 points.
- The US ‘Nasdaq’ (Top 2500+ mainly tech shares in America) finished the week 0.97% lower than last week (Friday AEDT), on 14,672.68 points.
- The Global FTSE ‘All World’ index (largest 3100 companies in the world) finished the week 0.11% higher than last week (Friday AEDT), at 7,032.30
- The S&P Cryptocurrency ‘Mega Cap’ Index (tracking market value of Bitcoin and Ethereum) is currently at +11.86% for the month and +60.95% for the calendar year
Investment story of the week: Zip Co (ASX:Z1P)
Zip Co is back in the spotlight this week off the back of some solid earnings data and strong spending coming out of the COVID pandemic, up 57.45% in the last 6 months. As the buy now pay later trend becomes part of everyday life, one to watch in the new financial year.
Investment story of the week: Australian Ethical Investment Ltd (ASX: AEF)
I’m shining the spotlight this week on Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. Not only does it offer ethically managed funds but it also has a retail superannuation fund which you may have come across. We’re getting a lot of questions about ethical investments and have a growing number of clients that have an ESG mandate on their investments. AEF is currently sitting at $8.29 at the time of writing this, but they have had an interesting year to date, overall the price is up 69.18%.
Money mistake of the week: Being duped with ethical investments
With so many people becoming interested in ethical investing, it’s easy to get lost amongst the information overload or be led down a garden path. The key is striving to understand the market before you dive in. In this chat, James Tayler and I discussed the lack of transparency in the ethical investing sector and the challenges that come from this. Check out our full chat here.
Jargon Buster of the Week: Automatic rollover (via Mozo)
Automatic rollover is an optional feature offered on some term deposit accounts where your investment is automatically rolled over on maturity into another investment term. For example, if you have a six month term deposit you could opt to have your investment automatically rolled over into another six month term on maturity.
Podcast from last week: #125 w. Alex Barrat – Investment Market Update
We talk about general sorts of trends that he’s seeing in investment markets, and what’s happening on his platform. We talk about crypto and people investing or getting access to crypto through different types of shares and investments that are listed on the stock exchanges, as opposed to investing directly into crypto and how all of that works and what people should be thinking about there.
We spent a lot of time talking about the markets though, and just general trends. You know, the risks that we’re seeing now, what’s going on, where the opportunities are for investors and what people should be thinking about. If they’ve got money and they’re investing now, which is a question that I’m asking a lot, given that interest rates are so low.
And then we talk a bit about Alex’s money journey as someone that’s heavily involved in finances. We talk about some of the resources that he uses to educate himself and how he’s tackled, formulating his own investment approach, as well as some of the general tips for people looking to invest.
Giving update of the week
This week we’ve had the privilege of starting work with a bunch of new clients, and we’ve celebrated by providing 100 underprivileged people in Africa with 365 days of access to clean, life-saving water. This is all part of our ongoing commitment to make a difference in the lives of our clients and simultaneously make an impact on our world through our partnership with B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1).
Smart Money upside #22 – Building assets outside of super and getting set for retirement
Because people don’t often talk about the full ins and outs of their money, it’s hard to learn lessons from hearing what good and bad choices other people make. This story is from one of our clients to help you take your money game to the next level.
Numbers/Background
Couple, late 30’s; household income ~ 300k; total assets ~ $570k; ~ with Investment Property; savings ~ $31k annually
Frustrations
Inertia around money and the desire to buy a home
What they wanted from us / the advice process
Ways of funding a property and ideas and strategies to really accelerate capital growth
What success looks like for them
Owning multiple properties; a debt that is manageable; freedom to go back to Scotland and having kids
What money strategy they were following before we went through the planning process
Savings cash to build a home deposit and fund maternity leave
What money strategy they chose to pursue from our planning work
Buy an investment property in Sydney for $1m; sell their place in Adelaide; build an equity portfolio and open an offset account
Key benefits of going through the process
Understanding, confidence, structure, timing and clarity
Value of advice after all advice fees year one: $41,205
Year 20 upside after advice fees: $1,146,406
If this story resonates and you want to chat about how to get these sorts of results, you can book an intro call here.
Be awesome,
Ben
PS: If you want a hand to get on the front foot with your money in 2021, check out our 45-minute one-on-one sessions here. We’re donating 100% of the money raised to charity, so you can up your money game and do something good on the planet at the same time.
Disclaimer:
I know you’re smarter than someone that would need me to write the words that come next, but our compliance peeps are real hard-asses so here we go… This information is not personal advice, poetry, or a map to where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. It may only be regarded as general advice, and definitely shouldn’t be considered something worthy of inclusion for Donna Hay’s next cookbook or the Archibald prize. This is actually just an email communication that has been sent to a bunch of people and doesn’t even have your name on it. Your personal objectives, needs or financial situation have not been considered when preparing this email, but I want you to know that I have spent a lot of time thinking about the Venn diagram intersection of poetry, landscaping, and essential oils – if you’re fascinated by this same phenomenon please reply so we can compare notes. You should consider the appropriateness of any general advice we have given you, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs, and if necessary, seek advice before acting on it. You should also consider other people when getting on and off public transport, smiling more, eating healthy, and listening to your mum when she tells you that you’ve been working too hard. Where the information relates to a financial product, you should obtain and consider the relevant product disclosure statement before making any decision to purchase that financial product. Where the information relates to a hilarious joke I’ve made, you should consider belly laughing deeply. Worth noting also that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance when it comes to investments, and definitely not when it comes to the Wallabies. Financial services guide. All jokes aside and just to be clear, this information may only be regarded as general advice. That is, your personal objectives, needs or financial situations were not considered when preparing it. You should consider the appropriateness of any general advice we have given you, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs, and if necessary, seek advice before acting on it. Where the information relates to a financial product, you should obtain and consider the relevant product disclosure statement before making any decision to purchase that financial product. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.