A usual criticism of modelling tools is the assumption that returns are normally distributed. But black swans seem to be a short-term phenomenon...

Overcoming the limitations of financial theory and the biases of its practitioners is difficult but not impossible - the financial equivalent of the Hippocratic oath may help...

The debate around active versus passive managed equity funds provoked lively discussion at last month's PortfolioConstruction Forum Symposium in Auckland. For this follow up feature, financialalert asked proponents of both approaches why they choose the strategy they do. One thing they all had in common is a strong belief in their position...

In the past, trust was built via face-to-face meetings with clients or prospects. However, in today's busy world with low cost and easy access to technology, things have changed. Trust can now be built from afar...

More than a year after the proposed fees and levies for financial advisers were announced, advisers finally have clarity about how much they'll have to pay for being regulated. But the end outcome came as a surprise to industry leaders.

There are really only two words to discuss - Greece and Spain - and the implications for Australian cash rates, bond yields and equity markets - and, of course, portfolios.

Building debt portfolios used to be easy. But it’s much harder now. These days, the debt side of portfolios must be absolutely secure and should designed as three buckets...

Britannia launches new compliant QROPS - open to all advisers. Call to ban publication of gross returns for KiwiSaver funds. Annual declaration time for AFAs. Where your clients income tax ends up...

In early May 2012, 120 portfolio construction practitioners - 90% of them AFAs - gathered in Auckland for the two-day PortfolioConstruction Forum Symposium featured leading local and international investment professionals presenting on contemporary and emerging portfolio construction issues. financialalert asked delegates to send in their key takeouts from the two-day program...

In this Workshop, two full-time research professionals demonstrated how they would design a portfolio for a real investor, based on a real world portfolio construction case study submitted by one of the Symposium delegates...

MPT has been misapplied for the past 60 years. In this Critical Issues Forum, Michael Kitces argued that markets are not efficient, but they are adaptive - so appropriate use of MPT requires forward-looking projections. This requires more work to apply effectively, but can lead to portfolios that are more efficient and give better risk/return trade-offs.

Have your 2012 revenue resolutions gone by the wayside? If so, the year is far from over - consider picking one of three simple strategies identified in a recent research study which differentiated financial planning firms that outperform...

Nearly a quarter of your clients do invest for the thrill of it, according to FinaMetrica’s sample of more than 500,000 investors. What that means for advisers?

Two retail fund analysts have been awarded scholarships by Blackrock Investment Management and PortfolioConstruction Forum to attend the prestigious CIMA Program...

The prevailing wisdom is that tensions with Iran have caused oil prices to rise recently. But there's
a much greater long-term threat shaping investment opportunities...

Politics are messy. Reforms have stalled. The economy is slowing. Some question whether India's economic miracle is over.

Statements of advice are one of the more onerous requirements for financial advisers under the new regulatory regime. Code Standards 9 and 12 now mandate advisers must provide written information to clients regarding personalised services. With very little guidance from the regulator on how to go about this, financialalert asked some advisers what they're doing to comply and how they're going about writing financial plans...

FMA to publish adviser compliance results, notes it is watching fees vs commission issues; Investors will pay $770 for comprehensive financial advice; Financial Planning Standards Board seeks board nominations; Weldon's top 10 for the next 10 years for growing NZ's economy; Macquarie to recruit 30+ financial advisers...

The Japanese house price experience of the past two decades remains a real possibility for many countries including Australia...

In this second part of our two-part feature on adapting to the new regulatory reality, we look at what to tell clients about investing, how pedantic advisers need to be with record keeping, and what the Financial Markets Authority is doing to educate consumers.