Google’s driverless cars: welcome to the world of investing
It started out as a news story about cars, not investing: “When a Google self-driving car edged into the middle of a lane at just a bit over 3km/h on St Valentine’s Day and hit the side of a passing...
View ArticleEstate planning: where there’s a will, there’s a way
Part 1 of this series on estate planning looked at the decision-making process that should be followed to prepare an effective plan. Parts 2 and 3 outline the documentation required to ensure that your...
View ArticleDo investment principles stand test of time?
Time travel is a skill that would dramatically transform the world of the investor. Sadly, despite all the technological advances of the past two decades, the ability to go back or forward in time...
View ArticleStranded: too old to work, too young for the pension
After a career spanning business, software analysis and the Arts, and now in my late 50’s, a few years ago I decided to reinvent myself as a financial planner. I studied and started applying for jobs....
View ArticleRegulator demands robos understand clients
Quick and simple digital advice makes investing easy, but do the long-term consequences outweigh the short-term benefits? A new report by US market regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory...
View ArticleWill roboadvice exterminate traditional advisers?
A concise definition of roboadvice is an online wealth management service that provides automated, algorithm-based portfolio management advice without the use of human financial planners. The question...
View ArticleDiversification in thinking and practice
In 2015, Brookvine ran a workshop modestly entitled ‘WhiteBoarding 2.0’ where advisors and Chief Investment Officers to High Net Worth (HNW) clients and Family Offices (FO) assessed the role of...
View ArticleFinancial Advisers Register a good place to start
A note from ASIC to Cuffelinks readers In March this year, ASIC launched the Financial Advisers Register (FAR), the first comprehensive register of people who provide personal advice on investments,...
View ArticleResults of roboadvice survey
A few weeks ago, our article, Scenes from a roboadvice pitch to angel investors, presented a fictitious pitch by a roboadviser startup to venture capitalists. Judging by the thousands of times it has...
View ArticleTrusted professions go with the Flo’
Trust. It’s at the heart of finance. Trust is that special property that bends time, allowing for the provision of a good, service or facility today on the strength of a belief that the other party...
View ArticleRoboadvice disruption – you won’t see it coming
Cuffelinks’ article, “Scenes from a roboadvice pitch to angle investors” provoked much comment. There was an air of cynicism in the feedback that roboadvice would never really replace current...
View ArticleThe reality of roboadvice
The impact of digital innovation has been felt in many parts of the global economy and the financial planning sector is not immune. Recent turbulence in the advice industry, coupled with an...
View ArticleDon’t have retirement village regrets
The stories of people moving into a retirement community and suffering buyer regret years later when they realise what they get back have been well told. The ABC’s 7.30 programme highlighted the issue...
View ArticleChallenging a will: money or family?
Fights over wills provide an appalling insight into the bitterness, anger, and recrimination that can tear families apart. Even when quite small sums are at stake, adult children, ex-spouses,...
View ArticleProviding financial assistance to parents
A Cuffelinks reader has asked about the options and opportunities for the younger generation to financially assist their parents. He says: “People in my situation would be curious about tax-effective...
View ArticleSix challenges for robo-advisers
We believe robo-advisers will be paradigm-changing, but that doesn’t mean they have a free pass to success. They must overcome six significant challenges if they are to evolve into profitable financial...
View ArticleTake care when assisting parents financially
This article continues from Alex Denham’s, ‘Providing financial assistance to parents’, and is in response to a reader’s request to delve further into this little-explored theme. It focusses on what...
View ArticleSpinning the wheel in retirement
A common perception in finance is that the risk in growth assets, like equities, declines over a longer investment horizon. Recent research by consulting economists, Drew, Walk & Co into the equity...
View ArticleDeath and taxes on your own terms
Benjamin Franklin’s statement that nothing in life is certain but death and taxes remains relevant after 200 years. As a result of an ageing population and increasing household wealth for older...
View ArticleWhat do driverless cars and investing have in common?
It started out as a news story about cars, not investing: “When a Google self-driving car edged into the middle of a lane at just a bit over 3km/h on St Valentine’s Day and hit the side of a passing...
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