Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
"Intelligent Insight"
We know that first time buyers are sitting on the sidelines, as shown in our recent surveys. The biggest barrier is price. Many are desperate to enter the market and would jump at any additional incentive. No surprise then to see proposals popping up from time to time to try and assist first time buyers. … Continue reading “Why Enticing First Time Buyers With Super Is A Bad Idea”
The Treasury today announced a review seeking feedback on the types of products which would be appropriate for people approaching or in retirement with a focus on ensuring they do not out live their savings. The Government’s superannuation election commitments include reviewing: the regulatory barriers restricting the availability of relevant and appropriate income stream products … Continue reading “Government To Review Retirement Income Rules”
The draft report was released today. In a layered document, it sets out a series of 28 observations, and possible options for ongoing consideration. The main observations are set out below: • The banking sector is competitive, albeit concentrated. The application of capital requirements is not competitively neutral. Banks that use internal ratings-based (IRB) risk … Continue reading “Financial System Inquiry – Interim Report”
The ABS today published their data series on Lending Finance in Australia to May 2014. The seasonably adjusted value for owner occupation fell 0.7% compared with April, whilst overall commercial lending fell 6.0% month on month. There were increases in personal finance and leasing, but overall lending fell. We start with a chart showing the … Continue reading “Lending Finance Slips In May – ABS”
ASIC today released a report into fee disclosure practices for super and managed investments. The intention of the fee and cost disclosure requirements is to promote comparability of products. However, ASIC’s review of industry practices indicates that there is significant variation in the disclosure of fees and costs. A key driver of this variation is … Continue reading “ASIC Warns On Super And Managed Investment Fees”
Last week, the Future of Financial Advice regulations were tabled in Parliament, following the recently published Senate review. As currently incarnated they have the potential to drive a coach and horses through the original intentions of the FOFA reforms. Today we explore why this is so, and highlight some of the consequences for both the managed … Continue reading “Why FOFA Matters So Much”
In an interesting speech yesterday Dr David Gruen Executive Director Macroeconomic Group presented some startling data to the assembled company at the CEDA State of the Nation 2014 event. Citing the Gratton Institute report he said “in 2013, Australian superannuation fees ranged from approximately 0.7 per cent to 2.4 per cent of mean fund size, … Continue reading “Super Fees Are Way Too High In Australia”
Today we look at property investor trends in our household surveys series. We have been following the strong growth in investment lending, so was interested to see what property investors were thinking. Their appetite to invest appears to be slowing as we showed in our earlier post. Looking at those who are thinking about transacting, … Continue reading “Investors Still Good To Go – Tax Breaks Ahoy!”
Continuing our analysis of the ABS April 2014 lending data, it is worth looking at the overall housing finance data. Total lent, including owner occupied and investment secured lending, refinance, and unsecured was $28.3 billion, a record. The previous highest was $28.0 billion in February (both figures are seasonally adjusted). Looking at the percentage splits, … Continue reading “Housing Finance Was Highest Ever In April”
Digital Finance Analytics is a boutique research, analysis and consulting firm providing advisory services to clients in Australia and beyond. Services are delivered virtually using the web, blogs, social media, online conferencing and other digital means. We also produce corporate education and training videos for some of our clients. We combine primary consumer research, industry … Continue reading “About Digital Finance Analytics”