Mark Beyer

CHALLENGER International was the star performer among professional managers of Australian shares in the year to June 2001.

MORE than 30 online broking firms are currently chasing customers in Australia and, not surprisingly, the level of competition is fierce.

FOR many investors, the past financial year will be remembered for the plunging share price of ‘blue chip’ stocks such as Telstra, Coles Myer and Lend Lease.

A NEW boutique financial services company has achieved early success in carving out a niche in the Western Australian market.

A POPULAR saying in financial planning circles is that “people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan”.One of the hindrances to good planning is that many people simply don’t know where to start.

THE crackdown by the Australian Tax Office on agricultural investment schemes has led to a renewal of interest in gearing as a tax minimisation strategy.

DIVERSIFICATION is widely accep-ted as one of the fundamentals of good financial management: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, we are frequently told.But what does this mean in practice? How far should investors take the concept?

SHARES versus property? It is a perennial topic of debate among Australian investors.

JUDGING by the media coverage and public debate during the past year, the only tax change anybody seems to worry about is the introduction of the GST.