Financial Services

In recent weeks, the share prices of Australian banks have been heading south. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) and Westpac (ASX:WBC) have been hit particularly hard, on the back of material falls in their net interest margins. Will margins start to expand soon as the interest rate on fixed rate loans starts to climb again? continue…

by Stuart Jackson Posted in Companies, Editor's Pick, Financial Services, Stocks We Like.

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In a recent webinar to discuss the August reporting season, I was asked to provide thoughts on questions about the bank stocks. In my third post, I am covering: Why is Westpac the biggest holding in the Montgomery Fund. Why do you like it, more than anything else? continue…

by Stuart Jackson Posted in Companies, Editor's Pick, Financial Services, Stocks We Like.

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In a recent webinar to discuss the August reporting season, I was asked to provide thoughts on questions about the bank stocks. In my second post, I am covering: What is approximately the cost of funds gap between say the big banks and the small banks?

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by Stuart Jackson Posted in Financial Services.

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We recently held a webinar to discuss our thoughts from the August reporting season. First, I would like to thank those that listened to the webinar. In this series of posts I would like to provide thoughts on some of the questions about the bank stocks that were asked by those attending starting by answering: What are your thoughts on the major banks for the medium and long term for their dividends? continue…

by Stuart Jackson Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

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The major banks will release their results over the next couple of weeks. Having generally lagged the market over the last few years, the bank stocks have been relative winners in the last six months as fears around bad debts eased. continue…

by Stuart Jackson Posted in Companies, Financial Services, Stocks We Like.

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In what was an interesting year for all financial service participants, 2020 saw the number of financial planners in Australia decline, continuing the exodus of recent years. According to RainmakerLive’s latest research into the advice industry, the total number of planners fell by 12 per cent throughout the 2020 calendar year as captured in the chart below. continue…

by Dean Curnow Posted in Financial Services.

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The Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) released its results for the six months to December 2020. The numbers were generally better than expected across most lines resulting in a better earnings result than consensus sell side forecasts. continue…

by Stuart Jackson Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

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The success of the Australian superannuation system, envied by most governments around the world has now grown to encompass close on $3 trillion of assets. This is broadly split between three different types of fund – Public Sector/Industry/ Corporates, Retail and Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF). The proponents of each type often battle it out in the court of public debate as to the merits of each type and one of the fronts of attack is often on the topic of cost! continue…

by Scott Phillips Posted in Financial Services.

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After 37 years of declining interest rates that have fuelled asset price increases but laid waste to lower-risk income streams, it is perhaps surprising that now should be the time to be discussing dividends. But dividends are back in the spotlight, in no small part due to pronouncements by central bankers including the US Federal Reserve’s Jerome Powell and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Phillip Lowe that low short-term rates are here to stay, perhaps for years. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

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In this week’s video insight Stuart discusses how the banks are positioned with a less economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic than first anticipated. Since the pre-COVID market high on 20 February 2020, the banks have generated a loss of 7 per cent compared to a loss of 3 per cent of the broader market over the same period, despite share prices outperforming in recent months.  The Price to Earnings multiple of the banks have been falling for some time as a result of margin compression and higher capital requirements reducing their return generated on incremental equity invested. Will we see any special dividends from the banks as bad debt loan provisions are unwound?
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by Stuart Jackson Posted in Editor's Pick, Financial Services, Video Insights.

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