Category: Investments

By Greg Major, Financial Advisor The first lesson most children learn about money is what they can spend it on – games, the latest toy, their own iPad – but it’s a parent’s obligation to also teach them about managing their money. And the earlier we can teach them about the power of compounding, the […]

Tensions with North Korea have been waxing and waning for decades now but in recent times the risks seem to have ramped up dramatically as its missile and nuclear weapon capabilities have increased. The current leader since 2011, Kim Jon Un, has launched more missiles than Kim II Sung (leader 1948 – 1994) and Kim […]

By Greg Major, Financial Advisor I heard a very good presentation last week from Andy Sowerby of Legg Mason about the benefits of going “active”. There has been more written about the pros and cons of active versus passive investing than perhaps just about any other topic in the field and the debate will rage. […]

By Greg Major, Financial Advisor This article was published in The West Australian, Secure Your Future insert, on 21 August 2017 Unless you are in the upper echelon of well-read investors, you may not have heard of low volatility investing. While not uncommon, it is not considered mainstream either. For those who follow passive or […]

How big a threat is it really and what are the implications for investors? “It’s not what you own that gets you into trouble, but what you owe.” Excessive debt tends to be at the centre of most scare stories regarding the investment outlook – whether they relate to China, public debt in developed countries, […]

From record lows just after the Brexit vote – government bond yields have spiked higher. Ten year bond yields have risen from 1.36% in the US to 2.2%, from -0.19% in Germany to 0.31% and from 1.81% in Australia to 2.64% in four months. This in turn has led to sharp falls in high yield […]

This article was originally published in The West Australian Secure Your Financial Future insert on Monday, 22nd August 2016. By Brad Martin, Financial Adviser For many people, when they think about investment strategy their main consideration is how they can make the most amount from their money.  In reality, one of the most important decisions […]

By Greg Major*, Financial Advisor I was thinking the other day that you can be a great surfer at age 22 but it is unlikely you would be a great investor – you just haven’t been around long enough and some skills just take more time to develop. Investing is both an intellectual exercise and […]

By David Baruffi* It is human nature to try to synthesize information down to one identifiable figure that we can use to assess and compare against. Be it how hot it has been today verses yesterday, how much rain we have received this year verses last, or what returns our investments have produced verses other […]

By Greg Major, Director of Blueprint Wealth When it comes to investing, diversification and an active versus passive approach are two heavily debated areas that the average investor often struggles with in their portfolio. It is important when constructing an investment portfolio to acknowledge the limitations on predicting future market outcomes. We just don’t know […]