Do you own your investments?

10 July 201812 July 2018 Chris Brycki

Something you may not put a lot of thought into when you invest is how those investments are held. Sometimes investments aren’t legally owned by you but instead owned by another entity on your behalf. That may sound like a minor difference however there can be significant consequences when it comes to security, tax, costs and the portability of your portfolio.

Broadly investments can be held in 2 ways:

Directly by you on your own HIN (Holder Identification Number)
Indirectly via a commingled fund or omnibus account structure

Historically stock brokers used a direct ownership model, so each of their clients had their own individual investment account or HIN and all investments were registered on the ASX’s computer system called CHESS (Clearing House Electronic Subregistry System). If the stock broker went bust it didn’t impact the end client because their investments were safely separated.
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What are the best Australian share ETFs?

3 July 20183 July 2018 Chris Brycki

Australian share ETFs continue to gain in popularity. As of May 2018 there is over $10 billion invested ETFs tracking Australian shares.

Each year we compare all 175+ ETFs in our Australian ETF Report. Here we road test 5 popular Australian share ETFs, comparing them across 6 factors:

Size
Costs
Slippage
Liquidity
Returns
Track record

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Rent or Buy? We do the sums

28 June 201828 June 2018 Chris Brycki

“Rent money is dead money” or so the saying goes. It’s a popular myth perpetuated by plenty of people working in the real estate industry. However as at June 2018 capital city house prices experienced their first annual fall in 6 years, dropping -1.1%. With house prices cooling, renting is starting to look attractive again.

Like any financial decision, there are costs and benefits associated with buying or renting. Here we discuss some of the important pros and cons to consider when deciding whether to rent or buy and look at which one has really worked out better over the long term in Australia.
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People & perspectives: Matt Levy, Paralympic gold medalist

21 June 2018 Chris Brycki

Some people have unthinkable depths of grit, determination and talent. They achieve amazing feats while the rest of us shake our heads in wonder. Matt Levy is one of these people. Matt is a 6 time Paralympic swimming medallist, his most recent win saw him return home with the gold medal from the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

His days start at 4.30AM, consist of 5km of swim training, then he goes to his day job, or in his words “train, eat, sleep, repeat”.

Stockspot was lucky to talk to Matt about the incredible challenges he faced in early life and how he balances a professional sports career, charity work and managing his finances.
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When is a good time to invest?

13 June 201813 June 2018 Chris Brycki

One of the main challenges investors face is ‘when is the right time to invest?’

As an investor your aim is to make money, so naturally it’s tempting to try and time your entry into the market and wait for prices to fall to grab a bargain. The problem is investment markets can move quickly and you’re just as likely to miss out on making good returns by waiting to invest.

The truth is markets can go up, down and sideways over the short-term and it’s almost impossible to pick the top or bottom (even for professionals). However if you’re completely out of the market you have no way to benefit from the gradual increase in prices over time.
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ETFs continue to disrupt the asset management industry

7 June 20187 June 2018 Chris Brycki

ETFs continue to be the biggest disruptor to the asset management industry and at the same time are blurring the lines between different styles of investing.

Over the past 15 years, over US$2 trillion has moved out of active funds and into index funds and ETFs. Globally the ETF market is projected to reach US$10 trillion by 2020 and be larger than the active managed fund market by 2027.
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What are the best industry super funds?

30 May 20185 June 2018 Chris Brycki

Not all industry super funds are equal, here’s how to spot a good one.

The Productivity Commission recently released their draft report on superannuation efficiency and competitiveness. What they found mirrors our Fat Cat Funds Research that shows that while Industry super funds outperform Retail funds, there are plenty of areas for improvement.

Our 5th annual Fat Cat Funds Report, analysed over 2,000 super funds and 2,000 managed funds to see how they performed over 5 years.

Once again we found industry super funds beat retail super funds across 10 of 11 investment categories. Industry funds had a smaller percentage of Fat Cat Funds and more Fit Cat Funds.
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People & perspectives: Lisa Messenger

22 May 201822 May 2018 Lauren Franze

Lisa Messenger is the vibrant CEO of the Messenger Group, as well as Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Collective Hub. She previously worked globally in events, sponsorship, marketing, PR and publishing, has authored and co-authored 24 books and is now an authority in the start-up scene. She encourages an entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, innovation and lives life to the absolute max.

Stockspot spoke to Lisa for our People and Perspective series about career challenges and entrepreneurship.
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Why you should ignore monthly returns

14 May 20185 June 2018 Chris Brycki

Over long periods of time, markets have always risen and generated wealth for investors. That’s much harder to see if you’re focused on market movements over a few days, weeks or even months.

In the 4 years since Stockspot launched, all 5 of our portfolios and all 5 of the the core ETF investments within our portfolios have risen in value.
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Questions to ask yourself before you buy a house

10 May 201810 May 2018 Larry Lee

Buying your own home has always been considered “the great Australian dream”. It stands to reason that saving for a house deposit is one of the most common goals our clients have.

There is no doubt that it’s getting harder to buy a house with the average deposit needed being well over $200,000 in Sydney and Melbourne. The amount required also very high in most other capital cities.

If you’re going to chase your property dream it’s important to do your homework up-front and be mentally prepared for the road ahead. Here are a few questions I found myself asking when deciding whether to buy.
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Stockspot: 4 years since our launch

3 May 20188 May 2018 Chris Brycki

This week we’re excited to share that Stockspot turns 4!

Here’s a quick look back at where we’ve come..

Helping Australians reach their potential

Since Stockspot launched in 2014 I’m delighted we’ve been able to help thousands of Australians invest to get closer to the life they want to be living.

We’ve seen clients who have been able to fund all sorts of aspirations, including buying first homes (including one houseboat!), travelling, home renovations, take career breaks, buy a car, pay for school fees and retire.
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People & perspectives: Bruce Djite, International Footballer

2 May 2018 Lauren Franze

Bruce Djite is one of Australia’s leading international soccer players. He debuted for the Socceroos in 2008 and has played professional football in Turkey, Korea and now Indonesia. Closer to home he still holds the title of Adelaide United’s all-time highest ever goal scorer.

Bruce is a Stockspot client and a keen investor. We had the chance to chat with Bruce about money in professional sport, living around the world and playing for Australia.
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Where Are the Customers’ Yachts? The problem with wealth management in Australia

27 April 201827 April 2018 Chris Brycki

Five years ago this month I started Australia’s first online investment advice company. One of the reasons I set it up was that I saw too many people getting poor investment advice.

The traditional wealth management industry was positioned in TV advertisements as a way to get peace of mind and secure your future. Behind the scenes it was designed to do exactly the opposite. People were being overcharged, given poor advice and pushed into products that actually harmed their ability to reach their goals.
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Playing 2-up beats picking stocks

24 April 201824 April 2018 Chris Brycki

Playing 2-up this Anzac Day? Here’s something you can throw back at anyone who questions your judgement to take part in this Aussie tradition.

You’ve got a better chance of success at 2-up than you do making money on picking shares. Your chance of making money buying shares is 42%. At least in 2-up you have a 50% chance of walking away ahead.

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Can ETFs make the world a better place?

13 April 201813 April 2018 Megan Stals

ETFs are often considered ‘passive’ investments, but in recent years their issuers have become much more active when it comes to their voting rights.

As ETFs have become more popular, the big 3 issuers – Blackrock (iShares), Vanguard and State Street Global now own significant percentages of many large companies around the globe. These funds find themselves in a unusual position, their success depends on the returns of the companies they invest in, yet unlike active managers, index funds can’t sell to take a stand on particular issues.

ETF issuers are coming under more pressure to take action on corporate matters via their ‘proxy votes’.
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Better the devil you know?

10 April 201810 April 2018 Chris Brycki

We’re creatures of habit. We gravitate towards things that we know and feel familiar with. If it makes us feel safe, warm and fuzzy we’re 100 percent in.

The technical term for our penchant for things we know is familiarity bias. We gravitate to “the devil we know”.
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People & perspectives: Improving financial literacy

3 April 20184 April 2018 Lauren Franze

Brownyn Bruce

Bronwyn Bruce is the founder of Miss Money Box, an educational blog to help Australian women expand their general knowledge around personal finance.

Like us here at Stockspot, she’s passionate about improving financial literacy and helping educate more Australians to have a better understanding on how to manage their savings. This started from a childhood passion for shares and being fed-up with how financial services market to women. Miss Money Box is all about taking control of your financial future.

We wanted to get to know the brains behind the money box so we sat down with Bronwyn to find out more about how she got started on her personal finance journey.
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How Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers invest differently

27 March 201827 March 2018 Megan Stals

Everyone’s financial priorities change over time. The typical path starts with building some basic savings, then accumulating wealth in your working years and then spending it in retirement.

An individual's financial life cycle

By comparing the goals and aspirations of different generations of Stockspot clients we’ve discovered interesting insights on the reasons why each invests.
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Meet the team: Megan

13 March 201813 March 2018 Larry Lee

Meet the team: Sarah

Data is a key strategic asset for every business and that’s no exception here at Stockspot. Meet Megan, our Analyst who helps us crunch the numbers so that we can make better decisions.

Megan shares some of the interesting insights she’s seen and her tips for investing.
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Why tech shares are the worst investment today

9 March 20189 March 2018 Chris Brycki

One of the worrying trends we’ve seen lately is an unhealthy obsession with tech shares. Sure, their performance has been fabulous over the past decade and they’re accomplished and well known businesses, but that does not guarantee their success in the future.

Most people have already heard the reasons tech companies are hot right now. What you probably don’t hear are the arguments for why to avoid them. That in itself should be a red flag.

To play devil’s advocate these are 9 reasons to avoid over-investing in tech.
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Lecturing women about money won’t make them invest

8 March 201826 March 2018 Lauren Franze

There’s a lot of hand wringing that gets done in marketing departments about how to get women to invest. Women are powerful consumers. Often the decision maker in key household purchases. Quite rightly any marketeer worth their salary wants to go after a valuable market segment.

It seems to me that recently we have started lecturing women about why they need to invest. The common arguments are the gender pay gap, the superannuation gap, savings accounts give you rubbish returns and my personal favourite, financial independence (ie a thinly veiled translation of a man is not a financial plan).

All sound arguments and well intentioned, if not occasionally condescending.
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Investments you should avoid

21 February 201813 March 2018 Chris Brycki

The market has a tendency to surprise speculators, which is why most speculators lose out to investors over the long run.

After 2 years of steady returns and low volatility, US shares fell 8% in early February and speculators who poured US$33 billion into the market in the previous week wore some heavy losses.
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How to handle money and relationships

14 February 201814 February 2018 Lauren Franze

Let’s face it, money talk in any relationship or friendship can be a mood killer. When the dreaded money topic comes up it’s normal to try and shrink into your shirt and hope the conversation soon turns to fun things like happy hour and buffalo mozzarella.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we need to talk about money.

How you deal with money can impact your relationships. Infact Relationships Australia says financial stress is the number one cause of relationship breakdown. I’d wager that if it were more socially acceptable to be open about money, fewer people would struggle with debt.
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Best ways to deal with a credit card debt

8 February 20186 March 2018 Lauren Franze

Paying on plastic can be a useful way to free up cash, particularly over Christmas and the holiday season.

However, many Australians will have to pay off credit card debt from the festive season well into 2018. It’s scarily easy to overspend on credit cards and it can be incredibly overwhelming to get on top of credit card debt once you’re in it.

We asked Sally McMullen, resident credit card expert for finder.com.au to explain some of the best ways to get your debt under control cheaper and faster.
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Are you a speculator or an investor?

1 February 20181 February 2018 Chris Brycki

It’s fascinating to find out the reasons why people buy shares, ETFs, property, bitcoin or any other investment.

Take the pulse on people’s motivations for buying something and you’ll get a good insight to if they are actually an investor or a speculator.
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Helping Australians reach their potential

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