Invest
Be wary of ‘hard-to-understand’ products
Ten years on from the global financial crisis, investors are being warned to be cautious of buying into products which are difficult to make sense of.
Be wary of ‘hard-to-understand’ products
Ten years on from the global financial crisis, investors are being warned to be cautious of buying into products which are difficult to make sense of.
Shane Oliver, the leading economist at investment firm AMP Capital has urged investors to be careful when investing in products created through “financial engineering” or which are hard to understand, noting similar products played a key role in the GFC.
“The GFC was the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression,” he said.
“It saw the freezing up of lending between banks, multiple financial institutions needing to be rescued, 50 per cent plus share market falls and the worst post-war global economic contraction.”
This was spurred on by a “massive easing” of lending standards, allowing people to receive loans they were unable to service and packaging these loans with other loans to create securities to be sold to investors, Mr Oliver explained.
These products were then given good ratings as a low-risk investment “on the basis that while a small proportion of loans may default, the risk will be offset by the broad exposure”, and then sold to willing buyers under “fancy names”.
Not only did these products play a role in bringing about the subsequent crisis (which occurred after the US central bank drastically increased rates, leaving many people unable to pay their mortgages), but investors who held these particular products were also the most badly affected.
“The biggest losses for investors in the GFC were generally in products that relied heavily on financial engineering purporting to turn junk into [well-rated] investments that were impossible to understand,” he said.
Mr Oliver acknowledged that any potential future market crisis is unlikely to take the same shape as the GFC did, but warned there will be similarities.
“Of course there will be another boom and bust… but as Mark Twain is thought to have said ‘history doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes’ so the specifics will be different next time,” he said.
Property
Millennials believe first home buyers need more support
Australia’s up-and-comers in the housing market say more needs to be done to slow rising house prices. ...Read more
Property
3 in 4 borrowers in trouble are in lockdown: ANZ
Despite offering support, ANZ said freezing home loan repayments will be the last resort, as three in four requests for support stem from NSW. ...Read more
Property
RBA gives APRA’s use of macro tools a tick of approval
Ahead of an expected move to impose tougher lending rules on the banks, the Reserve Bank has looked into previous attempts by APRA to cool the housing market. ...Read more
Property
Federal incentives are driving more first home buyers into the market
While property prices continue to grow, new research suggests that the government’s current crop of first home buyer incentives is having an impact on this segment of the market. ...Read more
Property
Why it now costs 130% more to service a mortgage than 3 decades ago
The lifetime cost of owning a home has increased by over 130 per cent in just three decades, new research has revealed. ...Read more
Property
Using the 30/30/3 rule for home buying during uncertain times
Thinking of buying a home? Uncertain economic times may have you double guessing your purchase, but the 30/30/3 rule can help you make this a reality. ...Read more
Property
Rental yields reach decade high, but not all markets move at the same pace
Changing consumer preferences towards lifestyle destinations and a lack of supply have led to record national price growth, albeit price fluctuations vary region-to-region, fresh figures show. ...Read more
Property
What younger Australians are getting wrong about home loans
As young Australians look to fight the odds and take their first step onto the property ladder, more and more are making easy mistakes. ...Read more
The Olympic effect on property and equity investors; COVID-19 Disaster Payments and super
Listen now
Do lockdowns boost property prices? Are short-sellers levelling the playing field? Did you lodge your tax returns early?
Listen now
Will lockdowns halt the housing boom? Is the metaverse taking over? And the cons of lodging your tax returns early
Listen now
Are you being priced out of the market? Have you got the Tuesday blues? And are you ready for the upcoming super changes?
Listen now
Property
Millennials believe first home buyers need more support
Australia’s up-and-comers in the housing market say more needs to be done to slow rising house prices. ...Read more
Property
3 in 4 borrowers in trouble are in lockdown: ANZ
Despite offering support, ANZ said freezing home loan repayments will be the last resort, as three in four requests for support stem from NSW. ...Read more
Property
RBA gives APRA’s use of macro tools a tick of approval
Ahead of an expected move to impose tougher lending rules on the banks, the Reserve Bank has looked into previous attempts by APRA to cool the housing market. ...Read more
Property
Federal incentives are driving more first home buyers into the market
While property prices continue to grow, new research suggests that the government’s current crop of first home buyer incentives is having an impact on this segment of the market. ...Read more
Property
Why it now costs 130% more to service a mortgage than 3 decades ago
The lifetime cost of owning a home has increased by over 130 per cent in just three decades, new research has revealed. ...Read more
Property
Using the 30/30/3 rule for home buying during uncertain times
Thinking of buying a home? Uncertain economic times may have you double guessing your purchase, but the 30/30/3 rule can help you make this a reality. ...Read more
Property
Rental yields reach decade high, but not all markets move at the same pace
Changing consumer preferences towards lifestyle destinations and a lack of supply have led to record national price growth, albeit price fluctuations vary region-to-region, fresh figures show. ...Read more
Property
What younger Australians are getting wrong about home loans
As young Australians look to fight the odds and take their first step onto the property ladder, more and more are making easy mistakes. ...Read more
More articles
Website Notifications
Get notifications in real-time for staying up to date with content that matters to you.
