Dear %%first_name%%,
Europe is sorting out its mess, but the markets still have some concerns. But I’m not stressing about it, as I tell you why today. Even so, it’s likely that worries will hang about for some time, so we’ve got to be clever about where we look for growth.
Charlie Aitken noted last week that we won’t find much growth in the top 10 stocks. He says we should look to selected small-caps as well as take advantage of a forming bubble – read his article this week to find out what’s bubbling higher. JP Goldman also weighs in this week with some small-cap ETF recommendations. Plus, we look at why boards often like to report ‘underlying profit’ results, and tell you what to do if you, like so many others, breach your contributions cap. Enjoy the report!
Sincerely,
Peter Switzer
The latest SMSF quarterly statistics were released by the Australian Tax Office today, and the data shows that total SMSF assets rose 1.4% to $399.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with a year earlier. The gain comes despite stock market declines that pulled the value of total assets down 2% from a peak of $407.6 billion in the second quarter of last year.
The annual increase was also fairly muted given the number of SMSFs rose 7% over the period to a new high of 873,903.
The uncertainty at the end of last year caused a 10% increase in the amount invested in cash and term deposits, which accounted for 29% of total SMSF assets at $114.9 billion in the quarter, while listed shares made up 31% of the mix at $122 billion, down 7.2% from a year earlier.
These trends will likely reverse as confidence returns to the stock market.