Winning century
Australian investors have enjoyed the highest returns in the world in the 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War. This is the conclusion of research, conducted for The Telegraph in London, that analysed a vast amount of stock market data spanning the world’s major economies over the past century. Since 1914, the average investor in Australian shares has made a return of 6.9 per cent a year in “real” terms, after allowing for inflation, the best figure among the world’s 20 leading markets.
Stable dividends
Shane Oliver, the chief economist at AMP Capital Investors, loves dividends. Not only do decent dividends augur well for earnings growth, they provide a degree of security in uncertain and volatile times. And, as the chart shows, they provide a relatively stable source of income.
Staff wanted
Demand exceeds supply for financial analysts, accountants and auditors, a survey of 160 chief executives by specialist recruiters Robert Half shows. It also found 45 per cent of the surveyed companies plan to expand their finance staff by the end of 2014 “with new projects and company growth driving hiring intentions,” the firm says. Most sought after are specialists in financial reporting (47 per cent), financial analysts (37 per cent) and financial package software (29 per cent).
Smiles at the pump
Petrol prices nationally fell by one cent a litre to 148.3 cents in the week to August 10 – the lowest since the week to December 1, 2013. The pump price is expected to continue to slide. CommSec says if the lower prices can be maintained motorists will save around $13 a month on filling up their cars.
CBA contacting customers
CBA’s financial planning licence was last week modified by the authorities to include contacting over 4000 customers telling them the advice they received is being reviewed. If they want to get independent advice the bank will reimburse up to $5000 of the fees. “These conditions have now been finalised and will now commence,” the bank said.