Smart Investing
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The Federal Budget’s confirmation that the annual cap on concessional superannuation contributions for all fund members over 50 will halve to $25,000 from the 2012-13 financial year, has some investment commentators envisaging that more investors will turn to negative gearing.
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We've been told by the financial community at large that it's a tough time to be an investor. The financial markets are extremely volatile. Bond yields are near historic lows. The outlook is uncertain.
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The latest bouts of sharemarket volatility and this month’s cut in official interest rates once again highlight the crucial role of bonds in a properly diversified investment portfolio.
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Self-managed super funds typically have a much high exposure to cash than fixed interest.
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The Australian superannuation industry reverted this week to its unwanted status as one of the government’s favourite Budget ‘hollow logs,’ with billions of dollars in savings extracted from the system by reneging on a tax break meant to encourage higher retirement savings, and a doubling of the concessional tax rate on the super contributions of those earning more than $300,000.
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News & Commentary
Vanguard Investments Australia launches property ETF 11 Oct 10
Vanguard Investments Australia (Vanguard) today announced the expansion of its range of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) with the upcoming launch of the Vanguard® Australian Property Securities Index ETF.
The Vanguard Australian Property Securities Index ETF (VAP) will join the Vanguard® Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS), the Vanguard® All-World ex-US Shares Index ETF (VEU) and the Vanguard® US Total Market Shares Index ETF (VTS) offering investors another way to access Vanguard’s indexing expertise. The ETF is expected to be quoted for trading on the ASX from 15 October 2010.
ETFs provide all of the diversification benefits and cost and tax efficiency of indexing coupled with the trading flexibility, liquidity and pricing transparency of shares. The Vanguard Australian Property Securities Index ETF seeks to track the S&P/ASX 300 A-REIT Index, presenting low cost access to the broader Australian listed property market with the objective of capturing market returns before costs and tax.
“In an environment where costs are playing an increasingly important role investors are gravitating toward transparent investment options at minimal cost. Vanguard’s new property ETF will list on the ASX AQUA platform as the lowest cost property ETF currently available for Australian investors at 0.34 per cent” said Robyn Laidlaw, Vanguard’s ETF Product Manager.
“Vanguard’s ETFs are flexible investment vehicles that continue to grow in popularity as investors, advisers and institutions realise their benefits,” she said.
Joseph Brennan, Vanguard Chief Investment Officer, Asia Pacific said “We are committed to providing investors low cost building blocks for portfolio construction. VAP represents a new way to purchase a yield-oriented diversifier that we have successfully offered in traditional managed fund form for many years."
VAP is a share class of Vanguard’s Australian Property Securities Index Fund. This fund was established in October 1998 and currently has over $2 billion in funds under management.
Vanguard is a global pioneer of indexing and leading manager of ETFs in the United States. Locally, Vanguard ETF assets recently surpassed $200 million in Australia.
