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Media Release | Advisers Grow Revenue with Infocus

Queensland-based Infocus Group today advised the national rollout of its ‘Building a High Performing Advice Business’ Program has been a great success, with more than 100 advisers licensed through the Infocus and Patron AFSLs now having attended.  The ‘Building a High Performing Advice Business’ Program is an ongoing masterclass focused on client engagement, presentation and implementation of quality advice.  The Program was developed in response to adviser demand from within and outside the Infocus Group.

The Program is structured over a 12-month period, with an initial one-day Workshop and intensive group coaching session, followed by three further half-day Workshops spread three months apart.  In between each Workshop, advisers work on a 90-day implementation plan with the Infocus team to embed the new client engagement techniques and commitments made in each 90-day plan period.

Advisers act as a peer reference group within and beyond these sessions, coaching each other and sharing ‘tips and traps’ on what’s worked for them, creating a strong community of best practice and culture among advisers.  The Program is delivered by Infocus Group Founder Darren Steinhardt, whose own financial advice business grew rapidly to an annual multi-million-dollar turnover.

Business Owners David and Lyndal Winnett from Maryborough in Queensland are converts after commencing the Program earlier this year.  David said, “In the ‘every day’ of constant interruptions and business life it is easy to lose your way and focus on what you’re trying to achieve for your clients and your business, only to find yourself back where you started days ago not achieving the things you have set out to do.  Attending the “Building a High Performing Advice Business” Program has helped me change the way I operate and continues to challenge me to adopt best practice processes for business efficiencies and the delivery of quality advice in a timely manner”, he said.

Adviser James Sherwood of New Farm in Brisbane said “I have recently joined Infocus after searching for a dealer group that can provide me with the tools to build a sustainable client base that has a proactive and succinct view on compliance.  It was a pleasure to see that Infocus recognize that this requires generating and converting prospects to clients and the value needed to retain clients.  It was great to see the Founder of the Group lead this workshop and share his experiences.”

Rod Bristow, Managing Director and CEO of Infocus, said “Our vision of providing quality advice for Australians from all walks of life comes to life through our ‘Building a High Performing Advice Business’ Program.  This is resonating with advisers, who like our approach to helping re-engage around why they got into financial advice in the first place – to help clients.  The Program is identifying and accessing immediate opportunities for growth for Program participants”, he said.

For more information, contact Rod Bristow, Managing Director and CEO, Infocus Wealth Management, 1300 463 628 or visit www.infocus.com.au

Economic Update – September 2016

Economic Update

By Ron Bewley*. Brought to you by Infocus

Within this month’s update, we share with you a snapshot of economic occurrences both nationally and from around the globe.

With Brexit fears cast aside:

– United Kingdom (UK) confidence bounces back

– United States (US) Federal Reserve claims economy strengthening

– Japan ready to add more stimulus

We hope you find this month’s Economic Update as informative as always. If you have any feedback or would like to discuss any aspect of this report, please contact your Financial Adviser.

The Big Picture

It is just a year since some reports on the China stock market sell-off last August predicted doom and gloom. As we suggested at the time, it wasn’t a major problem because that market was, and is, in its infancy. The market stabilised and it is now comfortably above those 2015 lows.

At the end of 2015, some nerves were rattled about the prospects of Federal Reserve rate hikes in the US. While occasional bouts of uncertainty continue to cloud market movements, the successive Fed meetings have gone reasonably smoothly.

In January 2016, the Royal Bank of Scotland told us to ‘Sell everything’ and some other big houses made similar dire predictions. Markets are comfortably up and selling wasn’t the answer.

Oil and iron ore prices dived in February 2016. Iron ore prices dipped below $40 but later climbed to $70. Oil was predicted by some to get down to $20, or even $10, when it was $26. Instead, prices have more or less doubled. Another ‘crisis’ averted!

And then there was ‘Brexit’, and the dire predictions that went with it. The ‘leave’ vote won, but consumer confidence jumped 3% in the UK in the first month following the referendum. Markets are stable and the pundits got it wrong again.

Of course, at some point, an event will come along that will have a medium-term adverse impact on our investments, but most of these stories are simply overblown in quiet news periods. At this point we feel that all of those ‘scare stories’ are fading into oblivion and there are no new major known issues brewing.

At home, our labour force data isn’t great, but the mid-year fall in full-time employment seems to have turned around. Unemployment is stable at 5.7%. Our Reserve Bank is expected to cut rates again – from 1.75% to 1.50% sometime this year – but that is more to align our rate with the rest of the world rather than a reaction to avert major issues at home.

News in August was dominated by the Olympics. Australia was disappointed but ‘Team GB’ beat all expectations. There are big lessons for economic management to be learnt from these results.

Australian Olympic success was at a low in Seoul, 1988. Government funding was pumped in with increasing success to match – until, that is, at Beijing and after.

Great Britain (GB) hit its nadir in 1996 at Atlanta, with only one gold medal being won. The national lottery was born with substantial taxes going to sports’ funding.

In both cases it took time for athletes to respond, but pumping money into a venture alone is not an investment. Just like with migrants, the expression “The first generation makes it, the second builds on it, and the third loses it” might apply to economies and sports alike. But our athletes might now be doing as well – it’s just that others are rapidly improving.

Importantly, Australia was reported to have concentrated funding on our traditional sports. GB, on the other hand, looked for opportunities in sports they had not previously been good at. GB’s plan seems to have thrown up many unexpected successes.

The reaction to the GFC was for governments to cut back on fiscal spending around the world. Now we need well-tailored programmes to start the next phases of growth. Not pink batts, but spending on considered infrastructure projects and the like could be what we need now. But with our government system living on minority leadership for too many years, it is difficult to see from where such a programme will come.

In the meantime, growth might be a little below par but good enough. A shot in the arm for infrastructure could well be the start for a return to our desired long-run growth path.

Asset Classes

Australian Equities

The ASX 200 did lose  2.3% in August, but that followed a massive +6.3% gain in July. Virtually all sectors lost ground in August but market volatility remains reasonably low.

After reporting season in August our view of the fundamentals remains strong, we expect the 2016/17 financial year to be strong. The calendar year-to-date for 2016 posted a gain of +5.6% including dividends.

The high-yield sectors of Financials, Property, Telcos and Utilities continued to seriously lag behind the other sectors in 2016 y-t-d including dividends. Indeed, capital losses in high-yield have more than wiped out dividend payouts. The total returns of the ‘other’ sectors have exceeded +14% y-t-d.

Foreign Equities

Wall Street hit some new all-time highs in August. The VIX fear index reached quite low levels suggesting markets are quite settled even if August was not a strong month for markets.

With a rate hike in the US unlikely before December, only the Presidential election seems likely to interfere with a smooth finish into the end of 2016.

Bonds and Interest Rates

The RBA kept rates on hold again in Australia. The Fed Reserve’s second-in-command caused some volatility with his comments, shortly after Chair Yellen made her views known. While Yellen saw the chance of a hike strengthening with good economic data, Fischer went further putting September back on the table. December is still our call for the first hike.

Other Assets 

Oil prices have seemingly stabilised on talks between OPEC and Russia. At current prices, oil is too cheap to warrant shale oil to come back on stream in the US and too high to cause major concerns going forward.

The VIX volatility – or fear – index reached a low for 2016 during August. Our dollar did vary somewhat over the month but the change on the month was relatively small.

Regional Analysis

Australia 

On the face of it our employment data grew strongly, but full-time employment fell while part-time employment did the work. The unemployment rate was steady at 5.7%.

Trend full-time employment – the official preferred method – has started to pick up – possibly because of the earlier rate cut.

China

The month started reasonably well with the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) at 49.5 for manufacturing – which is just below the break-even 50 level. The services version of the PMI continues to be well above 50 as the domestic economy takes over from infrastructure expenditure.Mid-month retail sales and industrial production did miss forecasts by a fraction but not enough to worry markets.

U.S.A. 

Janet Yellen talked up the strengthening US economy at the annual Central Bankers’ conference in Jackson Hole. There is no doubt that employment data has bounced back strongly from the earlier mini-slump. But two good numbers are not enough to eradicate all discomfort.

Europe 

The Brexit vote won at the end of July. August Retail Sales surged at +1.4% against an expected +0.1%. UK confidence also surged from a three year low to 109.8 from 106.6. With Olympic success as well, it seems the UK has side-stepped the issues that some worried about earlier in the year.The Bank of England did cut its rate at the start of August and also pumped in some unexpected monetary stimulus.

Germany’s GDP came in at +0.4% for the quarter smashing expectations. There are also other pockets of mild success. Brexit will happen slowly so trade deals can be renegotiated far before trade becomes an issue.

Rest of the World 

Japan can’t win a trick, as they just recorded another month of deflation. Japan is pledging to continue to stimulate the economy as required.Japan’s problem is its falling population. Many countries, such as ours, would also look a little glum if populations were not growing!

*Ron Bewley (PhD,FASSA) – Director, Woodhall Investment Research

Important information

This information is the opinion of Infocus Securities Australia Pty Ltd ABN 47 097 797 049 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 236523 trading as Infocus Wealth Management and may contain general advice that does not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any person. Before making an investment decision, readers need to consider whether this information is appropriate to their circumstances.

Media Release | New Infocus Director brings global perspective

Infocus Wealth Management Limited announced today that it has appointed Mr Roy McKelvie as an independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman-elect to the group’s Board of Directors.

Roy’s career spans financial markets and operational roles in the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia. His last full time executive role was as CEO of Transfield Holdings.  Prior to this he was the MD & CEO of Gresham Private Equity in Sydney.  He previously lived and worked in Hong Kong as MD and Asian Head of Deutsche Bank Capital Partners, and in the UK as a Director of 3i Group.

He is currently Chairman of Encompass Corporation and Condor Energy Services.  He is also the Chairman of the Investment Board of AMB Capital Partners, a Non-Executive Director of Coolabah Capital Investments and a member of the Advisory Board of Enlighten Operational Excellence.

Roy holds a BSc in Production Engineering from the University of Strathclyde and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh Business School.  He will take up the Chairman role with Infocus on 1 January 2017.

Infocus Group Founder and Chairman Darren Steinhardt said “We are looking forward to the insights and expertise Roy will bring to the group as well as leveraging his deep industry experience and background.  Roy’s appointment is key to the Infocus Group’s continued evolution and ongoing growth”.

For more information regarding this media release or for any other matter please contact Rod Bristow, Infocus Managing Director and CEO on 07 5458 9400.

About Infocus Wealth Management Limited

Infocus (www.infocus.com.au) is an independently-owned national wealth management group delivering financial advice, funds management and technology solutions.

The group has operations in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia and provides financial advice to over 55,000 clients.  In addition, Infocus provides direct-to-consumer investment solutions through www.earnie.com.au; directly manages eight sector-specific multi-manager funds through subsidiary Alpha Fund Managers; and licenses proprietary CRM and practice management software, Platformplus, to support advisers with efficiently managing their business to deliver compliant financial advice.

Economic Update – August 2016

The Big Picture

Our stock market just posted the best month since October 2011! The ASX 200 rose +6.3% in July and we were near the head of the pack of the major world indexes. Since +6.3% is about the average for a year, this turnaround story shows how easy it is to miss out for investors who keep jumping in and out of markets.

But there was no really good news to spark this world-wide rally. Rather, it was the settling of the dust on a number of key issues that had been on the back burner. All the fuss about Brexit turned out to be nothing more than a distraction.

The United States (US) jobs data ended a very poor run for 2016 with a bumper number for June. The US Federal Reserve was at least seen as probably not hiking rates for the remainder of 2016.

But the best bit must have been the China data. GDP growth, Industrial Production and Retail Sales all did quite well – but Bloomberg released its new China index. The China Premier – before he took office – often spoke about how to make China data more transparent. He wanted to focus on things like electricity demand – which is easily measured.

It turns out that the new Bloomberg index does just what the Premier wished for and suggests that the China data agency, if anything, has probably been understating growth in its GDP releases.

If it hadn’t been for the Bastille Day massacre in Nice, this would have been time to pop the corks of some chilled bubbly. And, sadly, Nice wasn’t the only tragedy in July.

Turkey nearly sent markets alight with a mid-month military coup. It started after the market closed in the US on a Friday and was all over in time for Sunday lunch. Markets opened just fine on the Monday.

Of course this does not mean bad news will never recur. But with markets gaining strength, the VIX ‘fear index’ is at a very low level indeed; the US Q2 company reporting season has been quite good and ours starts in a few days.

We have the market fundamentals quite strong and much of the recent rally merely eroded underpricing from undue pessimism. We are now back on track for the forecasts we posted at the start of 2016.

There has been lots of talk about rate changes and stimulus around the world but it seems central banks are moving slowly in measured steps. There is a good chance that the RBA will cut in August – but if it doesn’t, it will probably cut soon. Our unemployment rate of 5.8% is neither good nor bad. It is more a problem, of who would prefer full-time to part-time employment.

Our full-time employment situation stopped deteriorating this month. The next number should tell us whether the May cut by the RBA had some impact.

And, of course, we had a general election with no clear decision. But neither was there daylight in the Brexit vote and it seems close between Trump and Clinton. Perhaps it’s time for a real set of leaders to step into the ring.

Our electoral problems probably contributed to Stand & Poor’s putting our nation – and our big four banks – on negative credit watch. It’s not a big issue if we lose our AAA status. Remember the USA lost its AAA rating a few years ago.

Asset Classes

Australian Equities

No sector on the ASX 200 went backwards in July and we would have had an impressive five-month run had the ‘Brexit month’ of June not turned out to be  2.7%, but folded into the impressive +6.3% for July. We have had +14% growth in the ASX 200 since February.

The banking sector has been holding the market back for some time. Those in search of yield seem to be flocking into Property and Utilities stocks – plus a bit in the low-yield, but highly defensive, Heath-care sector.

Foreign Equities

All of the major world indexes had a great July. The S&P 500 and the Dow recorded several all-time highs on Wall Street.

Wall Street was helped by some good company reports in July. A few of the banks did particularly well and Amazon blasted out of the blocks.

With the S&P 500 at 2,174, Citi’s forecasts for End-of-Year 2016 of 2,150 is already behind the 8-ball – but they are sticking to it!

Bonds and Interest Rates

The RBA was on hold again in July at 1.75%. The market was pricing in a 70% chance of a cut on August 2nd but that probability fell to 55% straight after the low – but on expectations – inflation figure of 1.0% for the year.

The US Fed claims September is a ‘live’ meeting for a possible rate hike. Most analysts are thinking December to June 2017 is far more likely.

European Union debt was downgraded to AA- from AA by Standard & Poor’s.

Japan under-delivered on its expected stimulus package this month.

Other Assets

After a terrible start to the year, iron ore prices recovered to sustainable levels and up +12% in July. Oil prices too recovered but lost over  14% in July.

Oil rigs in Alberta are coming back on line after being closed in the big fires of 2016. That should keep a lid on oil price increases.

Gold (+2.1%) was up on the month.

Regional Analysis

Australia

First quarter inflation came in at a negative rate, so it was with some relief that a modest +1.0% for the year was posted in Q2. Since the RBA ‘target band’ is 2% to 3% ‘over the cycle’, they have a reason to cut rates – particularly since the employment data is stubbornly very ordinary.

China

The chatter about China facing a hard landing has faded into the background. China has room to move but economic growth is strong.

U.S.A

While the jobs data were stellar last month, they are still not enough to soak up the slack for the weak start to 2016. These key data need to be watched particularly as US growth disappointed in Q2.

Analysts were expecting 2.5% (annualised) but got only +1.2%. To make matters worse, Q1 growth was revised downwards from +1.1% to +0.8%.

But the fundamentals of the US economy are not bad. They are just not great.

Europe

The European Union economies continue to be sluggish and the impact of terrorism on prospects is hard to ignore.

People on both sides seem to be handling the Brexit solution well. There is no reason to expect a sudden fracture in their relations.

And if Britain needed a dose of confidence, in one weekend they won two Wimbledon titles (Murray and Watson), the British Grand Prix (Hamilton), and 1-2-3 in the Tour de France (Froome, Yates, Martin). General Classification and Mark Cavendish had already won three stages and wore yellow. Who said a country couldn’t come back from the brink? All they need now is a football team.

Rest of the World

Japan Prime Minister Abe scored a landslide victory in his Upper House. That enabled him to pass through a massive fiscal stimulus package – but the Bank of Japan didn’t do as much as expected on the monetary stimulus side.

Brazil’s economy is in real trouble and Olympic success seems far from being a done deal. Venezuela is putting forced labour to work on farms. While we focus on some parts of the world, South America and Africa – as well as parts of the Middle East – are faring far short of what they would hope for.

Media Release | O earnie!

Infocus Wealth Management (Infocus) launched the group’s direct-to-consumer financial advice solution earnie.com.au last month and this month, earnie is off to school!

With O Week currently in various stages of progress around the country, earnie.com.au will form part of O Week activities at University of Sydney’s Camperdown Campus this week.

Since the launch of earnie.com.au, Infocus has publicised earnie as being core to its strategy to provide quality advice to Australians from all walks of life.  Rod Bristow, Managing Director and CEO of Infocus, said “Around 80 per cent of the Australian population don’t currently receive financial advice.  With this knowledge, we believe earnie.com.au will help bridge the gap by providing Australians with a simple and easy to use online service designed to help them reach their financial goals. earnie.com.au is really about simple, smart investing; allowing users to take control of their long and short term savings goals and helping them to reach these goals sooner”.

Appealing to a younger demographic, earnie.com.au is being promoted to students at O Week with the objective of creating interest through fun and excitement.  “There are roughly 6 million Millennials in Australia.  Through our market research we have gained considerable insights and understanding about this segment, particularly their core values and attitudes towards financial literacy and investing. Given this demographic are largely referred to as ‘digital natives’; being used to having information at their fingertips through their smart devices and being empowered to make decisions, we know earnie.com.au has an important role to play in assisting this group of Australians in getting engaged about their future financial well-being. Participating in O Week helps us build awareness with a market segment ready to receive this type of information and ready to be empowered in this way”, said Mr. Bristow.

In addition to participating in O Week, earnie.com.au will also be supported by radio and social media.

For more information about earnie.com.au contact:

Rod Bristow, Managing Director and CEO, Infocus Wealth Management, 1300 463 628 or visit www.earnie.com.au

About Infocus Wealth Management Limited

Infocus is an independently-owned national wealth management group delivering financial advice, funds management and technology solutions.

The financial advice division includes an Adviser network of around 180 Financial Advisers across two dealer groups, Infocus Securities and PATRON Financial Advice. Infocus and PATRON Advisers are located in 118 practices across Queensland, New South Wales, ACT, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, providing financial planning advice to over 55,000 retail clients nationally. Group funds under advice are around $4.4Bn and risk premiums under advice around $67M.

Enquiries in relation to this media release can be directed to Rod Bristow, Managing Director and CEO Infocus Wealth Management, on 1300 463 628.

Media Release | Infocus Enters Robo-Advice Market with earnie.com.au

Infocus Wealth Management (Infocus) today announced the launch of earnie.com.au, the group’s direct-to-consumer financial advice solution.  earnie.com.au is available at no cost for consumers, providing simple smart investing for Australians from all walks of life.

Launching earnie.com.au delivers Infocus access to the rapidly emerging market in direct to consumer advice.  In combination with national operations spanning face-to-face financial advice, funds management and wealth technology, this makes Infocus an exciting prospect.

Rod Bristow, Managing Director and CEO of Infocus, said “Around 80 per cent of the Australian population don’t currently receive financial advice.  We are really excited to be launching earnie.com.au today to help bridge this gap.  Those who sign up to invest with earnie.com.au will love its flexible, easy-to-use interface and education and support tools that help users meet their financial goals.  earnie.com.au really is about simple, smart investing, allowing users to set their money free.  Best of all, earnie.com.au doesn’t cost a thing!”, he said.

Mr Bristow said, “Robo-advice (or more accurately, direct-to-consumer advice) is not about replacing Financial Advisers, who play a critical role in helping consumers understand and meet their financial goals.  It’s about offering more Australians choice in the way they engage with advice”.

earnie.com.au leverages the capability of global partners Morningstar and Praemium.  Morningstar’s sophisticated investment calculation methodology supports some of the largest direct advice providers in the US and has been specifically modified for application to the Australian investment environment.  Where users invest directly, investments are made via technology partner Praemium (ASX: PPS).  Praemium’s innovative technology is deeply integrated into earnie.com.au.  Praemium CEO Michael Ohanessian commented, “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Infocus. The combination of Infocus’s quality advice, Morningstar’s direct-to-consumer methodology and Praemium’s robust and sophisticated technology will make it easy for first-time investors to engage meaningfully with financial planning.”

Users of earnie.com.au will reap the benefits of this approach.  earnie.com.au enables users to manage their own investments, or seek advice from one of the Infocus Group’s experienced Financial Advisers, initially through live chat.  These same Advisers can also use earnie.com.au to explain the concepts of financial advice to clients.  This gives users of earnie.com.au flexibility about how they want to engage with financial advice: and also means Infocus Group Advisers will benefit from engagement with more educated consumers.

“earnie.com.au is core to our strategy of providing quality advice for Australians from all walks of life”, Mr Bristow said.  Introducing earnie.com.au complements our existing financial advice operations, which includes an extensive national network of Financial Advisers operating in all states and Territories except Tasmania and the NT.  We’re excited about earnie.com.au and looking forward to helping and supporting earnie.com.au users reach their goals”, he said.

For more information about earnie.com.au contact:

Rod Bristow, Managing Director and CEO, Infocus Wealth Management, 1300 463 628 or visit www.earnie.com.au

About Infocus Wealth Management

Infocus (www.infocus.com.au) is a privately-owned national wealth management group delivering financial advice, funds management and wealth technology solutions.  Infocus provides financial advice to over 55,000 clients through employed financial advisers and self-employed advisers licensed through one of the Group’s two AFSL holders.  Infocus also directly manages eight sector-specific multi-manager funds through subsidiary Alpha Fund Managers, and licenses proprietary CRM and practice management software, Platformplus, to support financial advisers with growing revenue, increasing efficiency and effectively managing risk in their business.

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