Chris Smith

26/05/2023

On Wednesday we had the pleasure of attending another Make a Meal night at Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Herston. It was a full house and there was a fantastic turnout for our Italian themed menu! Our team absolutely loves getting involved and I highly recommend making this a part of your corporate community relations. It is very rewarding.

Thanks to our fantastic catering supervisor Chari for helping us organise such a great evening and to all the volunteers from our team for stepping up.

26/01/2023

An outlook from business investment company Schroders has revealed the forces shaping private markets. Three themes have been identified that investors can focus on to optimise long-term return potential.

The CIO of Schroders, Dr Nils Rode, has urged investors to assess the medium-to-long-term outlook before decision-making.

#2023

With a recession looming, private asset investors face a myriad of challenges heading into the new year. This year's outlook from Schroders has revealed the forces shaping private markets are larg

24/01/2023

Financial analysts Jody Jonsson, Casey McLean, Ellie Fordham and Chris Haynes, Kellie Wood, Kanish Chugh share their thoughts on what this new year will bring for investors with Financial Review.

My take on their predictions:

Ongoing volatility in Australian markets ✅
No new normal yet ✅
Recession on the way 🚫
Investment opportunities ✅
Tech stock winners 🚫

Nearly all agree that a recession is inevitable. Here’s what else they are forecasting.

22/01/2023

Market volatility has had a significant impact on investor confidence throughout 2022.

Anthony Wamsteker, the boss of Praemium, a wealth management platform, says sustained volatility in investment markets from growing inflation and interest rates has impacted investor confidence.

High-net-worth individuals have pulled back their investments in risky assets and increased their allocations in stable forms such as cash and bonds.

High net worth individuals are pulling back from riskier assets and increasing allocations to cash and bonds, according to wealth management platform Praemium.

19/01/2023

Australian property has been a hot topic lately, with continual rate hikes causing buyers and investors to put the brakes on their aspirations.

Chief economist at AMP Dr Shane Oliver has forecast prices to take a tumble at the back end of 2023 due to continuous impact of rate hikes.

Similar views from Bank of Queensland - BOQ chief economist Peter Munckton, who believes the real impact of rate hikes is yet to be seen on the nation’s housing market.

Australia's property prices in 2023: Why some are predicting a 'September dip'By Stuart Marsh • Morning Editor8:59am Jan 5, 2023 Tweet Facebook Mail After a stratospheric boom in prices, Australia's property market rapidly applied the brakes in 2022.Eight straight rate hikes, a cost of living c...

17/01/2023

Firms with the financial services sector are said to be likely to take a more strategic and longer-term view in terms of managing their businesses says Grant Peters, EY Oceania Financial Services Managing Partner.

After nearly three years of the global pandemic, unstable geopolitical and global economic conditions the sector has stayed strong, but will this year be the sectors most difficult to navigate?

At VISIS Private Wealth we encourage clients to look long-term at their wealth creation opportunities, weather cyclical storms and stay optimistic through troubled times, ensuring a long game is in play.

A competitive market will bring focus on new and innovative ways of connecting with existing and new customers with new products and services.

16/01/2023

New year, new goals.

Now is an ideal opportunity to reset your financial and wealth creation objectives, supported by a sound strategy and professional advice to achieve your goals.

Get in touch with my team today to discuss creating a tailored plan that meets your needs.

15/01/2023

Poor returns on-average for investors in companies preaching an ESG agenda have many companies looking at making changes to the ESG case.

Work is cut out for the investment sector to upsell the virtues of ESG in an increasingly volatile area poisoned by culture wars in the US and real war in Russia and Ukraine.

As James Kirkup reports, ESG could quickly head towards “fuzzy” territory as finds and ESG practitioners scramble to stamp out accusations of “woke capitalism.”

More behind The Australian paywall.

Last year was one of challenges for businesses and investors committed to the so-called ESG agenda that assesses companies and investments based on environmental, social and governance factors. This year could be worse, unless the investment industry rises to those challenges.

12/01/2023

After consecutive months of rate hikes in the past year Australian borrowers continue to ask the question. Where will rates go next?

The Head of Australian Economics at Commonwealth Bank Gareth Aird expects there to be only one more rate hike for the year, but can borrowers see the light at the end of the tunnel, or not?

The year of the rate hike: Where will interest rates go in 2023?By Stuart Marsh • Morning Editor8:10am Jan 3, 2023 Tweet Facebook Mail For eight consecutive months, Aussie borrowers have held their breath and braced for another impact to household budgets already stretched to the limit by soaring ...

21/12/2022

The economy is slowing to a crawl, according to the latest NAB data giving a sobering outlook. The data notes that GDP growth is expected to slow to below 1% over the next two years. Meanwhile, interest rates are expected to keep rising, with the cash rate anticipated to peak at 3.6% in March 2023 until inflation subsides. ABC News

ABS and CommSec data shows there are already signs of a slowdown as average household spending goes up 15 per cent in the past five years.

19/12/2022

With rising interest rates, Australians have been preparing for “more pain” in our economy. But the pace of the hikes has slowed, and with no RBA meeting in January, we have some time to reflect on what's happening as we enter the new year. ABC News

At the beginning of the year most were convinced inflation was a short-term reaction to the pandemic. Now it's proving to be far more persistent, writes business editor Ian Verrender.