Insurance and finance more optimistic than most
Sentiment in the finance and insurance sectors appeared to be improving as the industry closed out 2011, according to new data released by Roy Morgan Research.
The data, covering quarterly business confidence, suggested that sentiment reached its 2011 peak in around late April and early May, before ebbing to low levels in September and then recovering through October, November and December.
Across the total of businesses surveyed by Roy Morgan in the December quarter, the research found that confidence had increased for five consecutive months from a low point reached in July last year.
The research analysis said the major reason for the lift in confidence from July through to December had been a big increase in the proportion of businesses considering Australia will have good economic conditions in the next 12 months.
However, Roy Morgan Research industry communications director Norman Morris said that although business confidence had risen over the last five months, not all states and industries had the same level of optimism.
He said the most positive industry outlook had come from mining and finance, while the least optimistic were wholesale trade, construction, manufacturing, retail and agriculture.
Recommended for you
With an advice M&A deal taking around six months to enact, two experts have shared their tips on how buyers and sellers can avoid “deal fatigue” and prevent potential deals from collapsing.
Several financial advisers have been shortlisted in the ninth annual Women in Finance Awards 2025, to be held on 14 November.
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
