Here’s what you need to know today

• Australian entertainment export Bluey has taken over the United States. The latest Nielsen data shows that the Australian cartoon is the #1 most-watched show in the US this year and has been streamed for 35 million minutes.
  
  

• Plans to reform Australia’s Reserve Bank have been derailed as the Federal Opposition has pulled their support for the Government’s plan. A report handed down last year suggested taking the responsibility of setting interest rates away from the Bank’s board and forming a separate committee. The government will negotiate with the cross-bench and the Greens, but it now seems less likely to pass.
  
  

• Brent crude, the global benchmark oil price, dropped below $70 a barrel for the first time since December 2021. Why? The cartel of oil producing nations, OPEC, lowered their forecasts for demand for both this year and next due to slowing demand from China. From oil to iron ore, China’s slow down is becoming a drag on the global economy
  
  

• Domino’s Pizza has been served with a shareholder class action, which alleges the Australian pizza chain misled investors in 2021 about expected performance in Japan. Earlier this year, Domino’s closed lower performing stores in Japan and France and shares are at a nine-year-low.
  
  

• China’s Huawei had unveiled the first ever tri-foldable phone, the Mate XT, and shared that it already had 4 million pre-orders. Here’s a look at how it folds:

  

  
  

• The European Union is pocketing a big payday from Big Tech thanks to the European Court of Justice. Apple has been ordered to repay €13 billion (A$21.5 billion) in back taxes and Google was fined €2.4 billion (A$4 billion) for abusing its dominant position in search results.
  
  

• Boeing has had a couple of years from hell with safety issue after safety issue. Now rival Airbus is facing problems. After Cathay Pacific cancelled 90 flights to inspect its Airbus A350 planes, Air Canada has grounded 20% of its fleet and Delta have grounded 10% of theirs as they wait for a replacement part for their Airbus A220’s.

What the…?

Love crypto and your partner? Don’t trust centralised record-keeping bureaucracies like the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages? Now you can keep a decentralised record of your marriage on the blockchain.

Want to go further? Some couples are exchanging digital tokens rather than rings and others are minting their marriage certificate as NFTs. Maybe we’re just getting old but we can’t help but ask: what is the point?

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

Question: What should you look for in a good super fund?

We put this question to Dylan Pargiter-Green, Director and Financial Adviser at Bold Wealth

It’s true that not all superannuation funds are born equal. A common miscalculation we see when people think about their superannuation fund is that they think more about the name of the fund and the ‘shell’ of the fund rather than what they’re invested in within that fund.

At the end of the day, your superannuation is an investment and it should be treated like all other investments, considering time-horizon to redemption (likely from 60 onward) and the ability to withstand volatility during market cycles. There are several things to consider when it comes to choosing a superannuation fund that’s right for you, here are a few to think about:

• What stage of life are you at and are you on track for the balance you need? If not, perhaps it’s worth reviewing the allocation to growth assets and try and strive for more. If you’re tracking ahead, taking less risk and preserving some of the capital to give certainty on future assets might be the right idea. 
  

• What are you invested in? Many of the larger superannuation funds give us a set of pre-determined mixed options that meet a risk profile; balanced, growth, conservative. Unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of transparency in these funds, where they’re allocating our capital and what risks are being taken. Of course, they’re professionals and likely to get it right most of the time, but many of our clients want more transparency and potentially to hold direct shares/ETFs within their funds, as well as holding international holdings.
  

• Fees are important, but not everything. Low fees on the superannuation platform are important, but of course, performance after fees is what is important. If you want to be more aggressive within your funds, but this means higher fees, that might be ok – given you’re striving for the performance. Like any investment, fees are just a known risk that you’re taking. 
  

• Ethical and Sustainable investing is important to many of our clients, avoiding certain industries or companies within their portfolios. Although many of the larger funds offer an ‘ethical or responsible’ option, they’re not always exactly what they advertise. I’d recommend doing some additional research. Leafratings.org is a great resource for checking the actual investments within funds.
  

• Lastly – contributions are king when it comes to building super. Whether you’re investing personally outside superannuation or into Super, all the above considerations ring true. There is an obvious tax benefit of building wealth through superannuation contributions, but you’re putting that money away for the long term. If you need access to the capital for other things, salary sacrifice might not be the best option, but if you’re keen to get the upfront tax benefit and hold out until 60, then you’ll be far better off in retirement. This is one we deal with a lot for clients and something I highly recommend seeking personal advice on to create a long term plan for a comfortable and potentially earlier than expected retirement.

Want to speak to Dylan or one of our hand-picked financial advisers? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll put you in touch.

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