Aust market fares better than most
While investors in the local share market may have suffered losses on the market last year, the Australian market fared much better than most overseas markets.
According to research by Merrill Lynch, the Australian share market was the seventh best performer in the world in the 12 months to December 31, despite losing 0.3 per cent over the year.
The US market, the world's biggest, lost 10.5 per cent over the calendar year, its worst performance in 23 years. Most major European markets also recorded double-digit losses for the year. Japan was probably the worst hit of the large markets, shedding 26 per cent over the year.
In contrast, Japan's neighbour China was the runaway top performer for the year. Its Shanghai B index rose 136.6 per cent over the year. The only other country to break double digit returns for the year was Ireland with 11.7 per cent.
The numbers for 2000 are a sober reminder to investors on the savages of equities markets. In 1999, only six of the world's 38 biggest markets failed to make double digit returns for the calendar year and only one country, Belgium, recorded negative returns for the year.
Recommended for you
A quarter of advisers who commenced on the FAR within the last two years have already switched licensees or practices, adding validity to practice owners’ professional year (PY) concerns.
Integrated wealth and financial services group Rethink has launched a financial planning arm called Rethink Wealth to expand beyond property investing and into holistic wealth management.
While adviser numbers continue to slowly creep back up, the latest Wealth Data analysis reveals they would actually be in the green for the calendar year if it weren’t for so many losses in the limited advice space.
Iress has appointed a chief AI officer to spearhead the fintech’s strategic focus on AI, with chief executive Marcus Price describing how the technology opens the doors to a “new frontier for wealth advice”.
