behavioural finance

Fund Governance

Relational governance more important than ever: Drew

"There needs to be some really clear thinking about repair of personal balance sheets post-Covid", says Michael Drew, who points to the importance of relational governance in light of the government's early access scheme and selloffs in financial markets.

Jessica SierOctober 26, 2020

Policy and Regulation

More choice isn’t always a good thing

Banks are exploiting the phenomenon of ‘choice overload’ to the detriment of superannuation consumers, argues AIST boss Eva Scheerlinck.

Eva ScheerlinckJuly 19, 2017

Governance

Money corrupts; learn to tame your inner psychopath

People working in financial services need to accept that “proximity to money” makes them more likely to engage in poor ethical behaviour.

Sally RoseMay 24, 2017

Bernartzi’s Eureka moment

Sometimes we know something is wrong, but we need bright sparks like the behavioural economist, Shlomo Bernartzi to explain why in an authoritative and compelling way. Back in November he started his highly impressive presentation to the ASFA Annual Conference by telling us that “it does not help anyone to say that ‘everyone is saving […]

David RowleyDecember 19, 2014

Opinion

The misguided idealism of Arthur Sinodinos

There are many reasons to applaud the discussion paper issued by Treasury on better governance and transparency in superannuation, but its ownership by someone without an in-depth knowledge of retirement planning is worrying. That Arthur Sinodinos, the minister for financial services and assistant treasurer, also has a background in banking and thus a clear bias […]

David RowleyNovember 28, 2013

Opinion

A letter to Tony Abbott

Dear Prime Minister In January 1999 you gave a highly persuasive speech about the folly of Australia swapping its current constitution for an unproven model. In the speech, which appears in a book entitled Men and Women of Australia, our greatest modern speeches, you recognised that the current constitution had some alarming incongruities, but for […]

David RowleySeptember 30, 2013

Hedge Funds

Telling tales trumps abstract facts

Scenario analysis can be a useful tool in determining investment strategy, but it is not easy. It certainly involves more than good and bad perturbations around a base case. Excellent scenario analysis requires deep thinking and imagination to create a set of plausible futures. Each scenario does not have to be likely, but if it […]

Chris CondonJuly 30, 2012