The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

SMH: Alternative savings products

Lesley Parker writes in the SMH today:

Term deposits aren't the only option for the risk-averse. It pays to take a holistic approach...The director of YBR Funds Management, Christopher Joye, says that's not to say people should avoid term deposits, but they should be part of a ''holistic'' approach for short-term savings and investment goals. Other ''cash-like'' instruments people could consider include cash management accounts, cash management trusts and ''cash-enhanced'' or short-term fixed-interest funds, Joye says. Along with YBR's Smarter Money, he points to the Macquarie Treasury Fund, DFA's Short Term Fixed Interest Trust, Ord Minnett's Cash Management Trust and BT's Enhanced Cash Fund. ''These are all ways of getting access to a well-diversified portfolio of bank bonds and bank deposits,'' he says. YBR's Smarter Money, for example, invests mainly in institutional-grade bank deposits, term deposits and bonds issued by banks and has made an annualised return of 6.25 per cent to 6.65 per cent after all fees, including its performance fee, since its inception on February 17.