News

When we provide financial advice to our clients in the Perth area, we use every resource we have at our disposal. One of our best resources is the property leadership team of our parent company, AMP Capital.

Recently, AMP Capital announced that they are expanding their property leadership team. Luke Briscoe has been appointed as Managing Director, Office and Industrial. Louise Mason has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer. They will report to Carmel Hourigan, who is the Global Head of Property for AMP Capital.*

Ms Mason’s role will be to manage the Property business operations, while managing the teams who are responsible for mixed use strategies, business asset creation and office development pipeline. One of her duties will be to deliver premier opportunities for development to clients of AMP Capital, such as Quay Quarter Sydney.*

Perth financial planners who recommend real estate as a way to diversify portfolios are on the right track if a recent AMP Capital blog entry is any indication. The blog post being referenced is called, “Strength in real assets to continue – 2016 outlook.” The article had contributions from AMP Capital’s Heads of Infrastructure Equity, Infrastructure Debt, Global Listed Infrastructure, Property and the Deputy Head of Global Listed Real Estate.*

Generally, the real estate and infrastructure managers of AMP Capital expect global demand to strengthen in 2016 for all of the above listed categories. Here are capsules of each asset class projections for 2016 according to their respective managers.*

Boe Pahari, Global Head of Infrastructure Equity

Mr Pahari expects the markets to be the most active in North America and Western Europe. More managers are expected to launch funds during 2016, making this segment more competitive. Also, larger investors appear to be developing a preference for direct investments in infrastructure assets.*

We provide a full menu of financial services in Perth. While we can only provide specific information and recommendations during an individual consult, we do have access to a lot of information we can pass on to consumers. We came across some information we think is relevant to a lot of Perth households: the effects of falling oil prices.

Recently, in his column “Oliver’s Insights,” Dr Shane Oliver covered the effect of falling oil prices. Dr Oliver is the Chief Economist for our parent company, AMP Capital. He is also the AMP Capital Head of Investment Strategy and Economics. His article was called, “The plunging oil price – why and what it means.” We would like to pass on some of the information to you.*

In two years, oil prices have gone down 70%. This is because supply has surged in comparison to demand and because the US dollar is high. The price could fall as low as $20 per barrel, but Dr Oliver believes the supply will decrease soon.*

If you are looking for financial planning help in Perth, you may or may not be aware of the many sectors of the sharemarket. Recently, our parent company, AMP Capital, reviewed the food and beverage sector on their website. The article was called, “Part 4 of the ESG Series: Food trends and investor impacts.”

The article was written by Ian Woods, who is the Head of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investment Research for AMP Capital. He explored some of the industry’s drivers, providing the perspective of an investor. Here are some of the highlights.*

Sustainability Drivers in the Food and Beverage Industry

Mr Woods believes that the food and beverage industry is connected to stronger sustainability drivers when compared to other sectors. Here are some of those drivers.*

Financial planning encompasses a number of factors. The economies of Perth, WA, Australia and the world could play an important role in how your investments perform. Recently, Andy Gardner, the Australian Resources Analyst on the AMP Capital Fundamental Equities team, wrote a post on the AMP Capital blog exploring the connection between Chinese consumer habits and the Australian economy.

The post was called, “The Chinese consumer shift to experience over ‘things.’” We would like to provide you with some of the highlights.

How Chinese Consumer Attitudes can Affect Australia

Mr Gardner sees a connection between changing Chinese consumer attitudes and the Australian economy. For his broad conclusions, Mr Gardner believes that the Chinese and many others across the globe are beginning to value experiences over material products.*

Mr Gardner sees this trend resulting in a boost for the Australian economy in the tourism, education and housing sectors as Chinese Nationals will be more likely to come to Australia and those who immigrate here will need housing and education.*

If you fear that there will be a recession in 2016, the financial advisors in our Perth office would like to give you some information that may help allay your fears.

This information comes from Dr Shane Oliver, the Chief Economist for AMP Capital, our parent company. Dr Oliver also serves as AMP Capital’s Head of Investment Strategy and Economics. Recently, Dr Oliver provided an extensive document on the AMP Capital website, filled with predictions and projections for 2016.*

In that article, he covered the chances of recession, both global and in Australia. He rated the chances of global recession in 2016 unlikely, while saying that there will not be a recession in Australia in 2016. We would like to provide you with the points made by Dr Oliver.*

The financial planning advisers in our Perth office would like to provide a quick review of 2015 and what it may mean to you in 2016. We are going to provide some information for you courtesy of Dr Shane Oliver, who is the Chief Economist and Head of Investment Strategy and Economics of our parent company, AMP Capital.

On 21 January 2016, Dr Oliver wrote an article on the AMP Capital blog called, “2016 – A list of lists regarding the macro investment outlook.” The article covered many facets of the economy and how they performed last year. We are going to give you a look at some of the highlights.*

2015: What Happened?

2015 provided mixed returns for investors. Monetary conditions “remained easy” while the global economy saw mild growth. However, global markets did suffer from a variety of fears, such as dropping commodity prices, China being in the forefront of a possible emerging market crisis, the first interest rate hike in the US over seven years and Australia continuing a “soft” pattern of growth.*

2016 greeted investment planning professionals in Perth and across Australia with bad news as the global sharemarket dropped sharply on the first trading day. Chinese shares were down around 7%, European shares lost around 3% and US shares dropped 2.7% before rallying to a loss of 1.5% by the end of the trading day.*

So, what happened? Shane Oliver, Head of the Investment Strategy Team and Chief Economist for AMP Capital, addressed it in a piece on the AMP Capital blog called “Rough start – What’s happened in markets?”*

According to Mr Oliver, market volatility is being driven by insecurity about Chinese growth potential, increased tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia and manufacturing data from the US resulting in their drop in the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Conditions Index for December.*

Mr Oliver’s Food for Thought

Mr Oliver reminded investors to consider and “keep in mind.” Here is the condensed version.*