Are you concerned about the impact of the upcoming legislative changes to your business and looking for solutions? Or are you just looking for a more adviser focused partner?
Click here for a short video message from PATRON Financial Advice on how we can help.
To find out more, please feel free to email Robert McCann or call 1300 784 448.
PATRON Financial Advice has appointed former Australian Financial Services State Manager, Sharon Cummins, to the newly created role of State Manager, Victoria.
Cummins, who started with PATRON in late August 2011 will be in charge of recruiting financial planners and risk advisers, and promoting PATRON in Victoria.
She will also oversee planners practice management support and professional development in the southern state.
Cummins joined the financial services industry more than 18 years ago and has held senior positions in AFS over the past 4 years.
PATRON was established in 2007 and has 50 advice businesses located in NSW and the ACT.
An indisputable FOFA change will be the introduction of a “right advice” duty. Structuring your processes and staff to comply with the changes is becoming increasingly more difficult and expensive.
For the cost of less than 1 full time staff member, let us;
1. Manage all your SOA’s.
2. Take over all due diligence on getting applications completed.
3. Structure your soft copy files that show a complying paper trail.
4. Set up and manage your review process.
5. Be the first port of call for all your client issues.
David Robertson – Adviser: “I have been using PATRON Adviser Solutions for my back office since the beginning and the support I receive in getting business completed and dealing with client enquiries has been extraordinary. Importantly, PATRON Adviser Solutions also ensures my business compliance is completely maintained. This has allowed me to focus on the important aspects of my business, speaking with clients and prospects, rather than being bogged down by administration issues.”
To see more on the services offered by the PAS team please click here
For a confidential discussion please contact us at advice@patronfa.com.au
Please find here a regular Economic update for your information:
Everyone thinks about change and making resolutions when the calendar year ends but what about the financial year end?
The new financial year is a perfect time to make some resolutions to improve your financial health. If you create simple and easy-to-follow resolutions you will be more likely to succeed. To start, you can ask yourself the following questions:
• What do I really want to change?
• What are the benefits of making changes?
• What steps do I need to take to make changes?
• What will stop me from making positive changes?
• Are my changes realistic and long term?
This article lists some simple, easy-to implement resolutions you could take on for the new financial year.
The most common reason people don’t take advantage of tax deductions when they file their tax return is simply because they don’t keep receipts. While keeping receipts for big ticket items is necessary, you don’t always need a receipt for the smaller items such as stationery and books.
Achieving your financial goals doesn’t have to be daunting; a good way to start is with a budget. Try to keep a diary for your expenses and your spending. This will enable you to track where your money is going and how much spare cash you can use to either attack your debt or build investments.
Look at cutting unnecessary expenses. This could be as easy as making your lunch or coffee at home, cutting out optional extras such as lottery tickets or taking public transport instead of driving.
Try paying more than the minimum off your debts. Whether it’s personal loans or credit cards, paying the minimum will hardly make a dent as you will only be paying off the interest.
Set aside a little bit of extra money each day, week or month. If you can save just $10 a day, you will have an extra $3,650 at the end of the year. You can talk to your employer about getting it automatically deducted from your pay – if you don’t see it you are less likely to miss it.
Think of the long term and your lifestyle when you retire. One way to increase your retirement savings is through salary sacrificing some of your pre-tax salary. This will not only help to increase your super savings but could also reduce the amount of tax you pay.
Your financial adviser will help you keep to your resolutions and make sure your financial strategy is appropriate for the year ahead.
The economy today is progressively becoming more interconnected. This means a natural disaster across the globe can have a financial impact here at home in Australia. As we know, recently there has been a spate of disasters which have wreaked havoc locally and globally.
It can be hard to predict the economic impact after a disaster. Often the first reaction is a sharp drop in the stock market. This can be a lasting downturn but sometimes it can recover quickly. When Hurricane Katrina hit the US in 2005 for example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered in less than ten days. But the previous two hurricanes created lasting drops in the stock market.
When China’s Sichuan Province was hit by a huge earthquake in May 2008, the devastation was monumental, but the Chinese government say it ultimately helped their economy. Within a month of the quake, a massive rebuilding effort was underway and billions of dollars were pumped into the Chinese economy. This boosted the national economic growth by 0.3 percent during the period. This was particularly significant given that it was during the depth of the Global Financial Crisis (1).
Since the economic effects of a disaster can vary significantly, they’re not often well-captured by the simple headlines provided by the media. It’s important to delve a little deeper to properly understand the various impacts of a disaster and how they flow through the economy.
The loss of life is undisputedly the hardest part of any disaster. As people search for survivors, or even attempt to make areas safe, there is often a huge expenditure needed for relief and emergency response.
The second direct economic impact is the destruction. This is often the focus in mainstream media as they show horrific images of residential and business areas which have been hit by the disaster. There are substantial economic consequences in rebuilding these areas, but also in replacing finished and semi-finished goods, raw materials and spare parts.
An example of the massive cost of direct damage is in the recent Queensland floods, the Queensland State Government’s 2010-11 Mid Year Fiscal and Economic Review, has estimated that the cost of rebuilding public infrastructure will be $5 billion over 3 years (2).
(1) Source: Boston Globe, How disasters help, by Drake Bennett, July 6, 2008
(2) Source: Queensland State Budget 2010-11 – Mid Year Fiscal and Economic Review – www.treasury.qld.gov.au
Goods and services that will not be produced because of a disaster can have a significant negative economic effect. It can take a lot of time to fix machinery and source new materials. Cost can increase even more if there is a need to use alternative means of production or distribution. As delays impact exporting, losses in revenue can impact international market shares.
One way disaster affected areas can mitigate this loss of income is to focus on sectors which were not as affected. For example, when Jamaica was hit by Hurricane Gilbert, instead of focusing on the decimated agricultural industry they rebuilt hotels. Within three months they had recovered the tourism industry and had minimised the loss of market share.
Disasters can interrupt a country’s economy as a whole. Demand for building material, food and energy increases, at the same time as supply is restricted due to damaged infrastructure. This can cause spikes in inflation. Often, rebuilding efforts result in a shortage of skilled labour which forces wages to increase. This also impacts inflation.
Local and federal government finances often receive a double hit. Reduced economic activity results in lower tax revenues at the same time as they need to massively increase expenditure on infrastructure and disaster relief. These effects can be felt over a number of years as few governments budget for the unknown.
Many of the impacts of a disaster can have direct influence on your investment portfolio or superannuation. This is especially evident if you opt into a global share investment option or choose to own direct shares.
Another impact which can seem less obvious, but can have a huge impact on your day-to-day life, is the effect on commodity prices. An example of this is when petrol prices increased significantly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Disasters can be heartbreaking and have a horrific impact. But when looking at the economic impact, there is a danger in automatically predicting doom and gloom, as the media is fond of doing.
When a disaster occurs, there will undoubtedly be a negative economic impact, but how long this lasts and how it effects your investments will depend on a large number of factors. Ultimately, rebuilding after the disaster will result in growth. It is best to assess the situation with your financial adviser to find the solution which suits your needs.
