Our Strategies

Is the DOW in trouble?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! Watching the...

The tortoise and the hare

I saw this article “Non-profit super shows best returns” today which reported that between 2000 to 2009,...

Risk vs Reward

After the spectacular stock market rally of 2009, even the most bullish analyst is not expecting an...

2010 Bear Market Strategies

I was surprised when I found out that the top keyword search phrase for my blog this...

Get your fair share of commission rebates

I am sure no consumer likes to pay commissions for the financial products we buy. Unfortunately, the...

My outlook for 2010

I wish I can be a little bit more enthusiastic when I exchange “Happy New Year” wishes...

Where is the AUD headed in 2010?

Yesterday, the Aussie dollar index broke below a key technical support level of 89.89 which was the...

AORD head and shoulders – an example of when to hedge

Yesterday I decided to buy XJO put options to hedge my Australian stock portfolio because of what...

Meredith Whitney: Sell the banks

I noticed early this morning that some banks in the US finished in the red despite a...

High interest cash accounts for SMSFs

In my last blog post, I mentioned that with the rising interest rates and low inflation, cash...

Flight to safety starting

In the last few days, the only “green” on my watchlist of Australian stocks were those of...

Double dip recession soon?

I remember a few key people who warned about an impending recession back in 2007 when the...

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Is there really an overcapacity problem in China?

Is there really an overcapacity problem in China?

I have been reading about the overcapacity problem in China in financial blogs for quite a few months now. I have seen youtube videos about empty cities in China but there were no hard numbers on how big a problem this is until Jim Chanos announced some findings from his research on China to the media recently. He believes that the real estate bubble in China …

February 9, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

2009 Performance of SMSFs

2009 Performance of SMSFs

Last week we had a few performance reports released for SMSFs and large super funds. On Thursday 20 Aug 2009, the large SMSF administration specialist Super Concepts released the average annual returns and average asset allocations for 2008-09 for a sizeable portion of the funds under its administration. Thanks to Robin Bowerman for bringing this to my attention on his SmartInvesting blog. This study was based on the average returns and asset allocations …

August 23, 2009 | 5 comments | Read More »

How should you measure your SMSF performance?

How should you measure your SMSF performance?

Most mutual funds measure their performance against a market index and I know some Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) do the same. Each public fund has an investment strategy which is outlined in their product disclosure statement (PDS) and it cannot be changed by the fund manager without the approval of the members of the fund. If a funds investment strategy includes maintaining 70% or more of their fund in Australian equities, then it makes a lot of sense to benchmark themselves against an index like the …

February 5, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

Simple strategies for Self Managed Super Funds

Simple strategies for Self Managed Super Funds

Hello to all current and future SMSF Trustees

My husband and I started our own self-managed super fund in March 2007 because we wanted to take more control on managing our investments. Like most people, our fund was started through our accountant. After helping us with the paperwork (trust deed, ABN registration, accounting and auditing etc) we found we were on our own to do the most important activity, which is to invest and grow the funds under our management. Our fund started with around $100K and though …

April 23, 2009 | No comment | Read More »

Fund Management and Performance

How should you measure your SMSF performance?

How should you measure your SMSF performance?

Most mutual funds measure their performance against a market index and I know some Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) do the...

Feb 5, 2010 | No comment | Read More »
The tortoise and the hare

The tortoise and the hare

I saw this article “Non-profit super shows best returns” today which reported that between 2000 to 2009, funds operated by unions...

Jan 21, 2010 | 1 comment | Read More »
Risk vs Reward

Risk vs Reward

After the spectacular stock market rally of 2009, even the most bullish analyst is not expecting an encore of this performance...

Jan 18, 2010 | 1 comment | Read More »
2009 Performance of SMSFs

2009 Performance of SMSFs

Last week we had a few performance reports released for SMSFs and large super funds. On Thursday 20 Aug 2009, the...

Aug 23, 2009 | 5 comments | Read More »
Insuring your paper assets

Insuring your paper assets

Last week a storm damaged the fences on one of our investment properties. I check our insurance policy and was relieved...

Aug 10, 2009 | No comment | Read More »
Think like a Professional Fund Manager

Think like a Professional Fund Manager

According to this article “Small Funds now Biggest Sector of Super Industry” in The Australian newspaper, Self Managed Super Funds have...

Jul 2, 2009 | No comment | Read More »

Other posts

Is there really an overcapacity problem in China?

I have been reading about the overcapacity problem in China in financial blogs for quite...

Feb 9, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

Australian house prices in 2010 – part 2

I don’t know if many people read or realised the significance of this low key...

Feb 2, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

Making the right choices can be hard

Last year I went through a period of reckless eating and the result was I...

Jan 28, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

Is the DOW in trouble?

Watching the stock market action in the past week for me has been more exciting...

Jan 27, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

Winds of change are blowing

If you follow the market daily, you would have noticed a change of sentiment in...

Jan 22, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

Risk vs Reward

After the spectacular stock market rally of 2009, even the most bullish analyst is not...

Jan 18, 2010 | 1 comment | Read More »

Get your fair share of commission rebates

I am sure no consumer likes to pay commissions for the financial products we buy....

Jan 11, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

Is it really different this time?

Recessions are nothing new. From the chart above, there has been 5 recessions (grey areas)...

Jan 7, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

My outlook for 2010

I wish I can be a little bit more enthusiastic when I exchange “Happy New...

Jan 1, 2010 | No comment | Read More »

Is China a leading indicator? Part 3

Today as I looked at my list of world stock market indices, every major market...

Dec 22, 2009 | No comment | Read More »