Wealth

Insights on wealth management, investments, and personal finance.

Wealth
Wells Fargo lifts Q1 profits but sees economic hold-up
Global financial services company Wells Fargo has warned of an economic slowdown caused by the United States trade war. Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf commented after announcing an increase in first quarter (Q1) earnings. “We expect continued volatility and uncertainty and are prepared for a slower economic environment in 2025, but the actual outcome will be dependent on the results and timing of the policy changes,” Scharf said in a media release. “We and our customers come into the current environment from a position of strength that should serve us well. “We are prepared for a variety of outcomes, our focus is unwavering, and we will continue transforming Wells Fargo by investing to build a well-controlled, faster-growing and a higher-returning company while we work to better serve our customers and become more efficient.” Wells Fargo, which started operating stage coaches, said net income increased 6% to US$4.894 billion (A$7.89 billion) and diluted earnings per share (EPS) surged 15.8% to $1.39 despite revenue dropping 3.4% to $20.149 billion in the three months ended 31 March 2025. Scharf said Wells Fargo produced solid results with the EPS increase reflecting fee-based revenue growth across many co
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BlackRock clients anxious as purchase costs cut earnings
BlackRock Inc has announced weaker earnings for the first quarter of the 2025 financial year due to acquisition costs. The world’s largest asset manager said net income dropped 4% to US$1.51 billion (A$2.44 billion) and diluted earnings per share (EPS) fell 8% to $9.64 in the three months ended 31 March 2025 on revenue which rose 12% to $5.276 billion. The New York-based company, with a record $11.6 trillion under management, said operating income and EPS were affected by acquisition-related costs, which were excluded from adjusted results. Acquisitions included SpiderRock Advisors in May 2024 and Global Infrastructure Management in October 2024. BlackRock said adjusted net income increased 20% to $1.77 billion and adjusted EPS rose 15% to $11.30 billion in Q1.Source: BlackRockChairman and CEO Larry Fink said the 6% organic base fee growth in the first quarter was BlackRock’s best start to a year since 2021. “Uncertainty and anxiety about the future of markets and the economy are dominating client conversations,” Fink said in a media release. “We've seen periods like this before when there were large, structural shifts in policy and markets – like the financial crisis, COVID, and surging inflation in 2022. “We
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Australians are dying to hear from their super funds
Welcome to Super Nation: Australia’s retirement savings industry in focus, a new fortnightly column about superannuation. Every two weeks we will step away from the daily news cycle and examine, explain and analyse key issues in one of Australia's largest, fastest-growing and most important industries, one that helps determine the quality of life for millions of people when they retire. An unnamed Australian superannuation fund trustee took more than 500 days to pay an A$100,000 (US$59,000) death benefit to a First Nations woman who was grieving the loss of her husband. Australia’s largest super fund AustralianSuper allegedly spent between four months and four years assessing at least 6,897 death benefit claims between 1 July 2019 and 18 October 2024. The Construction and Building Unions Superannuation Fund (Cbus) allegedly took more than 90 days to process death benefits and total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance claims, costing more than 10,000 members about $20 million in total.Regulatory reviewWhat has been taking place in superannuation, the A$4.2 trillion (US$2.6 trillion) industry to which 18 million Australians entrust their retirement savings? So concerned was the Australian Securities and Investmen
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Find junior miners destined to become 10-bagger stocks
During the mining boom it wasn’t uncommon for investors to buy into half a dozen microcap mine stocks – aka penny hopefuls - at IPO at 20 cents a share, in the hope that the paydirt on just one would handsomely compensate for the remainder crashing and burning. Admittedly, when all there is to go on is the ‘blue sky’ within a penny hopeful's prospectus, it’s hardly surprising why a lot of punters relegate the highly speculative junior explorers end of the share market, to a ‘put-it-all-on-red’ approach. So what would it take to get in on the ground floor on the next Fortescue Metals (ASX: FMG) that comes to market, without feeling like you’re taking a wild speculative punt? Azzet went looking for clues, and here's what we found.Who’s running the show?Ideally, you want to invest in explorers where management – notably the CEO, and exploration manager and CFO - has been instrumental in successfully bringing other resource stocks to market. Find out if controversial characters are on the company's management. Likewise, find out if the company is in the courts, or has it changed its name in recent history? Checking out the company's website should provide all you need to know about who’s running the company, the locatio
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Super funds urge calm as members’ balances drop
Australia’s superannuation funds and Lance Corporal Jack Jones, a character from BBC sitcom Dad’s Army, are unlikely bedfellows. Although they may not have expressed it that way, the essence of the advice from the funds to their 18 million members following the meltdown in the Australian and offshore share markets matches Jones’ catchphrase: Don’t panic.Credit: BBCThese institutions, which managed A$4.2 trillion (US$2.5 trillion) of Australian retirement savings at 31 December 2024, are likely to have been bombarded with calls and emails from members worried about the drop in their balances caused by the plunge in equity prices triggered by United States tariffs and worries about a trade war and global recession. Funds have been telling members to stick with their personal investment strategies, remember their retirement savings are invested for the long term, and read specially-created website pages and other content about market volatility.Investing for the long termAustralia’s second largest fund Aware Super recommended members contact their fund or financial adviser before making significant changes, locking in short-term losses. “We understand how unsettling market volatility can be, but it’s a normal part of the inv

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Bond movements point to renewed investor risk appetite
The gigantic rise in Australian 10-year bond yields signals an end to the bond market rally, and also suggests investors may be regaining their appetite for some risk, with the share market also expected to move higher at the open. Having dropped 17 basis points to a six-month low of 4.05% on Monday - closing at 4.10% - the 10-year bond yield jumped 22 basis points to a two-day high of 4.31% today. This suggests that the 10-year bond yield could regain its 200-day moving average. Local bond movements followed an historic selloff in U.S. government bonds, which saw yields across all maturities rise by at least 20 basis points during the session. It was fear of a global recession triggered by the U.S. administration’s tariffs agenda announced last week — and uncertainty around whether some of the most severe levies are being negotiated — that led to sharp swings in the bond market as the week kicked off. The U.S. 10-year bond yield rose 19 basis points to 4.18% - after plunging to a six-month low of 3.87% overnight - following revelations that rumours of a 90-day tariff pause were fake. 30-year bonds were around 23 basis points higher in late trading marking the biggest one-day increase since March 2020. “We are
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ASIC closes down scammers telling pig-butchering porkies
“Pig butchering” is in the sights of Australia’s corporate regulator. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) has warned consumers to be vigilant when dealing online with investment websites and what may turn out to be romance baiting scams. ASIC said it had successfully applied to wind-up 95 companies, many of which may be associated with these "pig-butchering" scams, a name emanating from the concept of fattening stock before slaughter. The brother of Olympic break dancer Rachel ‘Raygun’ Gunn was caught up in the crackdown, with Brendan Gunn charged in March with allegedly dealing with crime proceeds connected to an international scam ring. ASIC said the Federal Court granted its application to wind-up the companies after finding most had been incorporated with false information. The Court agreed with ASIC there was a justifiable lack of confidence in the conduct and management of each company, with Justice Angus Stewart calling the case for winding up each company “overwhelming”. Many of the companies were also associated with websites and apps, which ASIC believes may have been involved in tricking consumers into investments in phony foreign exchange, digital asset or commodities trading
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Hackers steal $500k in major pension fund attack
At least A$500,000 was stolen in a major cyber-security breach involving thousands of Australian superannuation accounts on Friday. Four AustralianSuper customers lost $500,000 (US$305,000), according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR) and Australian newspapers, in what Australia’s biggest super fund described as a spike in suspicious activity on around 600 member accounts. Media reports suggest the coordinated attack also involved Australian Retirement Trust, Hostplus, Rest and Insignia Financial (ASX: IFL). The AFR reported that the attack involved thousands of accounts across the five funds, while Insignia told the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) suspicious activity was found on about 100 accounts on its Expand Platform. Insignia said the attack appeared to involve malicious third-party undertaking “credential stuffing”, whereby large volumes of stolen username and password pairs are used to gain unauthorised access to accounts. “I am co-ordinating engagement across the Australian government, including with the financial system regulators, and with industry stakeholders to provide cybersecurity advice,” National cyber security co-ordinator Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness was quoted as saying.
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Why is private credit booming in Australia?
Private credit is emerging as a popular asset for investors seeking stability, security and attractive returns, according to Capstone Funds director Frances MacDonald. Private credit, also known as private debt or private loaning is an alternative form of finance that is not publicly traded and includes credit held by or extended to privately held companies taking the form of loans, bonds, notes or private securitisation issues. While Australia is lagging behind the U.S. and Europe, with private credit still in its infancy, representing only 10% of the total debt market, MacDonald argues this creates the perfect opportunity to get in on the ground floor. “Locally, we’re seeing a large funding gap, particularly for SMEs and property developers, where traditional banks have either stepped back or can’t meet borrowers’ need for speed and flexibility,” she tells Azzet. “It’s a structural shift, investors are now actively seeking private assets for yield, stability, and security underpinning the shift away from public markets.”Credit: Niche Marketing GroupRecently, at the InvestmentMarkets webinar, MacDonald said 40% of sophisticated investors said private credit is their top allocation priority. This is because private