Blog

The anxiety that we all feel watching the terrible events unfold in Japan is being reflected in global financial markets. While nothing compares to the human suffering the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear emergency have created, the economic and investment impacts are nonetheless significant. In response to questions asked by some of our clients, we have posed a number of questions to Dimensional Fund Advisors, the fund manager that manages the Asia Pacific element of our clients’ portfolios. Providing a perspective of Dimensional’s approach at these times are head of international portfolio management Graham Lennon and head of Asia Pacific trading Jason Lapping. Read more →

Many investors cherish the notion that if they only had instant access to the information sources of market professionals—the stock research and broker calls and economic forecasts—their wealth-building dreams would be much further advanced. So, what if you had acted on those big professional calls in the past year? Read more →

It’s that time of year when many of us think about establishing one or more New Year’s resolutions. This often means committing to improving one’s lifestyle by losing weight, exercising more, or drinking less. Some investors could probably benefit from resolutions targeting their financial health as well. Just as many individuals endanger their well-being with bad habits, numerous investors suffer from ill-advised practices that are detrimental to their wealth. Perhaps a set of New Year’s investment resolutions, along with an adviser capable of helping investors adhere to them, will lead to a more prosperous future. Read more →

This month the Government announced the major changes that it intends to make to the way in which retirement benefits may be taken from pensions from 6 April 2011. These include the abolition of the requirement to take an annuity at age 75, and the introduction of new ‘Capped’ and ‘Flexible Drawdown’ arrangements. In this article we summarise the Government’s new pension provisions. Read more →

The need for retirement planning doesn’t end with the onset of retirement. A new retiree’s focus shifts from building wealth to managing and preserving it. One major challenge is to make the investment portfolio supply cash flow for the duration of life—and through different economic and market conditions. Read more →