Financial Services

Writing for Finsia’s InFinance daily report, Robin Christie has quoted the Big Four banks’ head economists speaking at the AB+F Breakfast with the Economists event in Sydney late last week. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Financial Services, Insightful Insights.

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At Montgomery, we spend quite a bit of time talking to broking analysts to try to deepen our understanding of industry dynamics. Sometimes we get a good return on that investment of time, and this was the case recently when we sat down with UBS to talk about banks. continue…

by Tim Kelley Posted in Financial Services, Insightful Insights.

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One thing we can say about the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is they certainly move quickly when they think it is appropriate to do so.

For example, in the nine-month period between July 2008 and April 2009, the New Zealand official cash rate (OCR) was cut on seven occasions, from 8.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

Now the opposite is occurring and in the past four months the OCR has been increased on four occasions – each by 0.25 per cent – from 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent. The New Zealand economy is expected to grow by 3.7 per cent in 2014, with the recovery in construction and net migration adding to housing and household demand.

The graph below compares the New Zealand 90-day bank bill rate with the New Zealand official cash rate, which commenced life in March 1999 at 4.5 per cent.

by David Buckland Posted in Financial Services, Foreign Currency, Insightful Insights, Value.able.

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In this interview with Ticky Fullerton on ABC’s The Business on 15 July 2014, Roger Montgomery takes a look at the banking sector in light of the recent Murray inquiry, and what this means for superannuation. Watch here.

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Financial Services.

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With some good news for Australian investors, my friend Simon Hoyle has just broken details on the Opposition’s call for a parliamentary inquiry into financial advice. We’ve posted an excerpt below, but to read Simon’s full article on Professional Planner, click here. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Financial Services, Market commentary.

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The Big Four banks feature prominently in many investors’ portfolios, typically because financials account for over 40 per cent of the Australian share market, coupled with their attractive dividends. At Montgomery, we focus on a company’s growth prospects rather than yield, which is the reason we hold ANZ in the Funds. continue…

by Ben MacNevin Posted in Companies, Financial Services, Insightful Insights.

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We have written about China Rongsheng Heavy Industries, one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, on several occasions. (See our posts from August 2012, and July 2013). continue…

by David Buckland Posted in Companies, Financial Services, Foreign Currency, Insightful Insights.

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The income of Australia’s major banks is largely dependent on the economy’s appetite for credit. When credit growth is modest, as it has been of late, the banks must reduce costs in order to maintain earnings growth. But this stage of the credit cycle also presents an earnings tailwind in the form of lower impairment charges, which the banks have been enjoying. continue…

by Ben MacNevin Posted in Economics, Financial Services.

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After a little digging, we were impressed by the results of both Challenger Limited (CGF) and G8 Education Limited (GEM). Below follow a few points on each business (both of which are in the top ten holdings of either or both The Montgomery Fund and The Montgomery [Private] Fund). continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

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One listed company that we find interesting is Bentham IMF Limited (ASX:IMF). IMF is a litigation funder that provides the money to mount class actions in return for a share of the proceeds where cases are won or (more usually) settled. Over the years, IMF has developed a reputation for being able to identify and back cases that have a very good chance of success, and for doing so profitably. continue…

by Tim Kelley Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

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