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James Packer invited some of his famous friends on a $250 million superyacht in the South of France last Tuesday. The Australian billionaire, 54, joined his longtime friend Karl Stefanovic, his wife Jasmine and their two-year-old daughter Harper. It was a family affair with Jasmine’s sister Jade Yarbrough also on board with her new boyfriend, former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke. James Packer (left) invited some of his famous friends on a $250 million superyacht off the South of France last Tuesday. He is seen here with Karl Stefanovic’s wife Jasmine (second from left), his sister Jade Yarbrough (right, holding his niece Harper) and other friends (center) Jasmine, 38, a former model turned shoe designer, looked breezy in a white shirt and designer sunglasses as she chatted with James on deck. Bikini-clad Jade, 30, stood nearby holding her nephew Harper on her hips. Michael, 41, was also seen enjoying a day on the water with the cash crowd, wearing a black T-shirt and

Australians get a harsh shock when they open their retirement statements. For most, it was a rare year of loss. Only three funds ended up black. Callum Foote and Michael West investigate super returns and the best performing fund of all, Hostplus. It’s an obvious thing, but it’s still of no value. When interest rates rise, the stock market tends to fall. And that’s exactly what happened to the savings of millions of Australians for the year to June. Opening our pension fund letter, we found that our scores were lower than the previous year. The stock market decline has been compounded by an unusual phenomenon; bonds also fell. Bonds are an important part of a “balanced” super portfolio, and when bond yields (interest rates on debt) rise, bond prices fall. The good news is the market has bounced since then, so the positive returns over the past seven weeks should send most of us back into the dark. Tracing the league tables, historic trends prevail, even in this turbulent year

A Set small text size A Set default text size A Set large text size The Queensland Reds’ second-line stake has been restored with key acquisition of Luke Jones’s Tes until 2025. The 31-year-old, who played the last of his six Tests in 2019, will return to Australian rugby from a second stint in France to effectively replace England-bound Lukhan Salakaia-Loto. Jones played 89 Super Rugby matches between 2010-20 for the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels and has just started a stint with Kurtley Beale at Racing 92 in the French Top 14. Offering experience playing against current Reds coach and former All Blacks key Brad Thorn, Jones’ pedigree is welcome given the defeats of Salakaia-Loto and prostitute Alex Mafi (Melbourne Rebels) in the off-season. “It’s great to bring home another Wallaby at the Reds,” said Reds football boss Sam Cordingley of the Sydney product. “Luke is a great addition to our squad. He is a very experienced key with a high work rate, the

The head of investment at the $82 billion hotel industry fund, Sam Sicilia, said his team’s 2015 decision to dramatically reduce the fund’s exposure to bonds to near zero “paid off big time”. While he admits Hostplus has the built-in advantage of a young member base (average age 37) and multiple redemptions, allowing it to “play the long game”, he said the rapid returns in interest rates had put some competitors on the wrong foot. “Anyone who buys bonds for protection is thinking about the financial 101 rather than the interest rate environment,” said Mr Sicilia AFR Weekend. ‘Back, back, back’ Hostplus continues to duplicate unlisted infrastructure assets such as airports, seaports and bridges, said Sam Sicilia. These investments have been criticized for being difficult to sell, having non-transparent valuations and alleged political motivations beyond financial gain. But the portfolio manager said he would not apologize for exposing members to an asset class that helped them avoid lo

‘Playing’ the system The index’s release comes as markets await the final 2021-22 financial year super fund league table to be published, after researchers Chant West and SuperRatings projected average losses in funds to balance between 3 and 4 percent. But Mr Swanger said the methodology used by most research houses, and the government’s official YourSuper portal, was flawed because they measured with arbitrary constructs from the period ending June 30. It also leaves league tables vulnerable to “play” by funds – a widely recognized issue where funds reassess the value of their unlisted assets in time for critical deadlines. “The problem with most ratings is that they use one blunt time period — one year, 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, 10 years — but each period ends on the same date,” he said. “Unless you own a DeLorean, you cannot invest on a specific date in the past. You can only invest in the future… Looking at different historical periods gives you the best chance of choosing a mut

Just $1 invested when super-mandatory started 30 years ago is now worth $7.67, based on the average “balanced” fund, SuperRatings says. Don’t forget all super refund figures have been deducted by fees. Make sure, if you’re paying higher than 1.1 percent of SuperRatings’ name as a “regular fee,” that the fund you choose is performing well enough to justify the additional fee. Get the best investment mix Do what I did and avoid watching your superfund balance plummet – as long as your fund investment options are right. It should not be determined by what happens in the stock market, and always by what happens to you. Of the types of funds I cited above, “growth” funds hold between 77 and 90 percent in equities, making them quite vulnerable to stock market volatility. “Balanced funds” hold 60 to 76 percent of the more moderate shares. There are also more conservative options, especially for super members who are nearing retirement and can’t afford to risk their sizeable cash pile. Thi