Equities have traditionally been referred to as a ‘growth’ asset class, but are increasingly being considered for their income characteristics. This follows many years of yield compression across traditional income asset classes, to levels that have fallen short of meeting investors’ income requirements. At the same time, investment providers have pushed ahead in developing more tailored solutions for post-retirement investors. This trend has further contributed to the increasing penetration of equity income strategies in many clients’ portfolios.

In this paper, Rudi Minbatiwala, Head of Equity Income, examines how the income concept is managed in more traditional income asset classes. Lessons learned from understanding how these traditional income assets are analysed are applied in considering some important implications when seeking to generate income from equities. The paper argues that when it relates to equities, income needs to be considered as a long-term concept; a total return focus is critical in order to meet the required outcomes of retirement income strategies.

As always there will be many different opinions on what might happen to markets in the coming year, but by and large most will agree it is unlikely to top the volatility and uncertainty of 2020. Amid the stimulus packages, lockdowns, PPE and politics, COVID-19 also brought to an end one long running market cycle and ushered in a new one, offering investors new opportunities with the potential for new risks and returns.

We believe understanding and navigating both will be more important than ever.

One of the main risks that still carries over from the last few years is the concentration of the index in just a few mega-capitalization companies. In fact, when considering the S&P 500, the top 10 companies still account for around 28% of the index, and as of late December 2020 the top 6 were worth more than the bottom 372 companies.

 

 

Why is this a problem?

Well if you’re buying the index you’re buying very expensive companies that have already grown substantially during 2020 such as Apple 86% and Amazon 76%. What’s riskier is Tesla (TLA) is nearly 2% of the index but only joined in late 2020, so index investors didn’t receive most of the benefit of its 700%+ growth, but bear all the downside if the stock were to fall.

Investors usually choose indices for their diversity – perhaps now they need to look again.

In addition, while global stimulus and support packages have helped economies from falling off a cliff, they have also pumped a lot more liquidity (cash) into the system. This, along with low interest rates may well support inflation for the first time in decades which even in small amounts can have a profound effect on stocks. Stocks with high valuations that are dominating the index (technology) are more susceptible to the increase in interest rates that usually accompanies inflation, meaning to get your money back you need to wait years if not decades. This is less the case with other sectors.

Is this likely?

While the potential for inflation is there, so too are signs of a rotation away from the tech stocks to those less highly valued sectors of the economy. From September to mid-December 2020, the S&P500 Value index outperformed Growth by around 8%, driven by more certainty about the real economy restarting on the back of a COVID-19 vaccine. While we can’t predict the future there is precedent here going back to the dotcom bust of 2000, where in the following 5 years Value had a resurgence to the point where it outperformed over the 10 years pre and post the bust.

 

To add to this are current data showing a significant increase in activity in the bellwether ISM New Orders Index which measures manufacturing activity, up 40% since the lows of 2020 and its highest level in over 3 years. The opportunity here lies in those sectors and regions that benefit from this new cycle economy, sectors that have been neglected, and so are cheap, but stand to benefit from the surge of global economic activity as populations slowly become vaccinated. The rewards here could be substantial.

Added benefit of options

Finally, the market is currently experiencing an unusual set of dynamics. Volatility (uncertainty) is higher than the long-term average, but so is the market. Usually the market is lower when volatility is higher.

This represents both heightened uncertainty alongside optimism, which has been fueled by some arguably unsophisticated market participants.

This creates unprecedented opportunity for professional investors, and especially for Talaria’s process of using put options to enter stock positions because:

  • There is a greater contracted rate of return on the put options we sell, which can generate 3-4% p.a. more option premium into the portfolio p.a. all else being equal.
  • The opportunity cost of not being fully invested is materially reduced given low expectations for equity market returns.
  • Heightened volatility allows us to widen our buffers against loss and maintain our risk credentials.

As we like to say, certainty empowers you.

It’s been nearly a year since the world changed as COVID-19 took hold. Of all that has been written
about and said so far, the word ‘uncertain’ seems to be the most enduring.

Uncertainty is not many people’s preferred state, but for retirees in particular, it’s even more
concerning, coming at a time when the juggle and stress of raising kids and building careers should be a
warm but more distant memory.

We spend 40+ years working to build an asset base to support us in retirement and we need that asset
base to deliver three key outcomes:

• Income generation – but not at the expense of capital loss,
• growth – of outcomes, and
• certainty – of outcomes…

…and do all this for an unknown number of years.

So how has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted these three retirement needs?

While stock markets globally have largely recovered since March, the underlying economy and outlook
for businesses hasn’t. This means dividends have been cut or reduced by many companies – impacting
income. Meanwhile, other asset classes such as Fixed Interest, Bonds, and Property are also delivering
substantially less returns.

Ranjit Das, Principal at Rahali Corporation believes this is a significant problem because of the over
reliance on income since the GFC. “Even over 10 years, traditional income sources like Banks, Telstra
have underperformed the ASX200, so non-traditional income sources are essential in client portfolios,”
Ranjit said.

At the same time, there has been a lot of volatility – a direct outcome of uncertainty – across asset
classes and currencies. This means it’s hard to predict when is a good time to either sell assets if
required or buy back into them.

“Retirees are very nervous in nature as they have no means to rebuild lost wealth. Any sharp spikes to
the downside creates a fear that capital will erode, income will reduce and they will ‘run out of money’.
Any sharp upticks don’t provide any joy as retirees are ‘buy and hold’ – much more than younger clients
who may be tempted to buy/sell and rejig allocations,” said Das.

In addition, the recovery of many markets at an index level has been driven by a few – namely
technology and consumer discretionary stocks – that have skewed the index. This means that those
following the index have a greater risk by being less diversified. If you’re starting out or still in the
accumulation phase of investing this might be ok, but not for retirees as they have additional risks
namely:

Sequencing – incurring large losses early in retirement, endangering a comfortable retirement
Longevity – ensuring your investments are there to support you for the full journey; and
Inflation – ensuring the purchasing power of your investments doesn’t erode.

The culmination of COVID-19 uncertainty, loss of business, and government stimulus that is currently at
play is creating all three of these.

There are solutions however that are genuinely uncorrelated sources of income – from shadow banking
to catastrophe insurance to selling equity insurance. However, the first two are very difficult to access as
a private investor, whereas equity insurance is more accessible and easily available.

So what is it?

In a nutshell equity insurance is really a metaphor for selling put options to enter stock positions that
you want to own rather than buying them directly. This then generates a premium which is treated as
income for the investor, regardless of whether the stock is ultimately bought or not. As a result, the
process creates:

• More consistent income;
• A diversified source of return;
• A downside buffer to first loss; and
• Reduces portfolio volatility.

This means that in periods such as now, investors have somewhere else to go for income. Further, as
option premium increases with volatility, an uncertain environment in most cases increases income
from this source.

Helping to create more certainty in an uncertain world.

www.talariacapital.com.au

Lonsec’s managed accounts have posted the fourth consecutive month of record growth in October, adding $100m in net inflows across its broad suite of diversified, retirement and listed portfolios.

The results highlight the success of Lonsec’s research-backed managed account model, which combines Lonsec’s portfolio construction expertise with Australia’s largest investment product research team.

Lonsec CEO Charlie Haynes said more advisers were turning to Lonsec for a professional, actively managed investment solution, whether off-the-shelf or tailored to a licensee or practice’s needs.

“The success of our managed portfolios comes down to three things: our investment philosophy, the diversity of expertise on our investment committees, and our research capabilities,” said Mr Haynes.

“Our active approach to asset allocation and asset selection, coupled with our ability to identify high-quality investments based on our extensive research coverage is proving attractive to advisers.”

The growth in Lonsec’s managed accounts reaffirms the importance of knowledge as well as execution, positioning the company as a major provider of investment solutions, along with its traditional research offering.

Part of the appeal is the breadth of Lonsec’s solutions, including diversified multi-asset portfolios, objectives-based retirement portfolios, listed portfolios, and direct equity SMAs. All are underpinned by the same proven philosophy and dynamic approach to portfolio management.

“Lonsec is known for its research and investment insights advisers and investors can trust, but more and more advisers are approaching Lonsec as a one-stop-shop for their investment solution needs,” said Mr Haynes.

Lonsec will add to its suite of investment solutions with the imminent launch of its Sustainable Managed Portfolios. These draw on Lonsec’s latest sustainability research to construct high-quality, risk-managed portfolios that target sustainable themes.

“The Sustainable Managed Portfolios are a great example of how Lonsec continues to develop its offering to meet a wide range of investment needs,” said Mr Haynes.

“We want to help advisers provide a genuinely sustainable investment solution that aligns to their clients’ values and investment objectives.”

Release ends

COVID-19 has created one of the biggest drawdowns in Australian Equity earnings in history, even bigger than during the Global Great Financial Crisis. Income investors are thus understandably concerned about the impact the shutdowns and ongoing social distancing will have on the ability of Australian equities to pay dividends.

In this article we discuss our forecast of the near-term dividend outlook and examine how active managers can help investors navigate this unique moment with the objective of creating a sustainable income stream.

The following lesson is one of IML’s ‘20 lessons for 20 years of quality and value investing’, which were recently published by Anton Tagliaferro and the IML investment team to mark 20 years since IML was founded.

We chose this lesson for Lonsec Retire, as it highlights the need for growth assets in retirement, particularly for early retirees who typically have investment timeframes of 20+ years.

The lesson illustrates the benefits of compounding by showing how companies that reinvest back into their businesses can reward investors with increasing dividends and appreciating share prices over the long-term. Increasing dividends is vital for retirees facing significantly lower returns from popular retirement income streams such as term deposits and traditional fixed income funds.


#6 The Power and Benefits of Compounding Over Time in Equity Portfolios

Most people are familiar with the concept of compound interest when it comes to term deposits, where one can earn interest on interest by continuing to roll over a term deposit. However, many investors do not relate the concept of compounding to their investments in the sharemarket.
Compounding occurs in the sharemarket when income from an investment is reinvested back into the business, and investors are rewarded with the benefits of increasing profits and appreciating share price growth over the long-term.
For investors in the sharemarket, there are two ways compounding can work in their favour to enhance their long-term returns.

These lessons are available both in hard copy and e-book format. For a copy of the book please register your interest here or email iml@iml.com.au

**IML and Lonsec  Investment Consulting will be holding a webinar as part of Lonsec Retire Program on Wednesday, February 12th, find out more.

Balancing the Needs, Challenges and Dilemmas of Retirement Investing

Retirement investing is necessarily complex.

The median super balance when entering retirement can’t support a comfortable lifestyle in the years ahead. In the first part of this series we outline the major investment building blocks and how they’re used to deliver better lifestyle outcomes for retirees.

Australians spend 40 years of their working life building an asset base to retire. For the majority1 this asset base on Day 1 of retirement is insufficient to pay for their remaining life costs should they wish to live comfortably2.

Specialised approaches to investing are the only way to breach this shortfall for retirees. Conceptually, growing our asset base in the accumulation phase is easy, we engage the growth investment engine and our risk is defined as opportunity cost.

In retirement, the engine of accumulation is still required.

Throughout the accumulation phase the investment engine was set to asset growth. For retirees, that engine must engage new gears, set for the unique combination of investment goals specific to retirement needs.

We spend 40+ years working to build an asset base to support us in retirement and in retirement we need that asset base to deliver 3 outcomes:

  • Income generation, but not at the expense of capital loss;
  • Growth of assets, but not risk losing all our savings;
  • Certainty of outcomes…

…and do all this for an unknown number of years.

The investment engine now requires three components to successfully drive retirement outcomes:

Income, growth and certainty are important individual investment components but paradoxically are not always complementary to each other. However, it is only by combining them that retirees can meet their overall retirement needs – this makes retirement investing complex.

Whilst the sub-components of retirement investing may be complex, the investment framework and discussion of its rationale need not be. Simply put:

  • Retirement investing has three core standalone objectives: Income, Growth, and Certainty which in combination are hard to balance. Each objective solves a specific Need, each Need presents a Challenge, and each Challenge has its own Dilemma

Based on the guidance provided by the ASFA Retirement Standards3, it’s clear that the Median Superannuation Balance4 isn’t enough to support a comfortable retirement.

We also know that the longer we live, the longer we’re expected to live. Thus, increasing the stress / responsibility on our savings to provide for retirement:

Life Expectancy At Age:

Age At Birth 65 75 80 85 90 95 100
Males 80.5 84.7 87.1 88.9 89.3 94.3 98.1 102.1
Females 84.6 87.3 89.1 90.4 89.9 94.9 98.3 102.3

Source: ABS 3302.0.55.001 – Life Tables, States, Territories and Australia, 2015-2017

With these data points in mind, aligning the investment engine to an investment strategy that meets client needs while engaging them in why and how this will help solve their problem isn’t easy, but it doesn’t need to be incomprehensible. Below we present each of the required retirement investment outcomes with their individual Need, Challenge and Dilemma concluding with a robust framework for delivering improved retiree lifestyles in retirement.

Income

Need: Income generation, accounting for inflation, avoiding the risk of capital loss.

Challenge: To generate enough income from retirees’ existing asset base.

Footnote: Yield required from asset base based on ATO Median 64-69 year old superannuation balance, accounting for pension payment for homeowning couple (Male and Female), using ASFA Comfortable spending requirement, ASFA Inflation assumption of 2.75% p.a.

Dilemma: Income generation isn’t as easy as it once was. Today, with income levels either too low (for our needs) or too risky (as standalone investments), focusing solely on generating enough income from our asset base introduces significant risks that our asset base may be eroded while not adequately rewarding for the risk of running out of money and diminishing quality of lifestyle in retirement. Alone, investing for income is not an adequate solution for this unique challenge.

1990 2000 2010 2019
RBA Cash Rate 17.5% 5.0% 3.75% 1.25%
Inflation 7.8% 1.9% 2.1% 1.3%
Real return on cash 9.7% 3.1% 1.65% -0.05%

Source: ABS, Inflation – Consumer price index; All groups, March 2019 (Series ID: GCPIAG)

Growth

Need: Growth of assets, but not at the expense of losing my asset base.

Challenge: Investing for growth is the only way to extend the duration of a comfortable retirement. However it can significantly increase the risk of reducing the extent of a comfortable retirement by eroding retirees’ asset base through poor returns. The ultimate measure of risk in retirement is “will this investment increase my risk of running out of money earlier?”, or in other words “what does this investment do to the range of outcomes for when I’ll run out of money?” To test what this risk is we add equities5 to cash, to build some simplistic scenarios to assess the impact of investing to achieve an expected 6% p.a. return6. This provides a picture of what the real risk of investing for growth to a retiree looks like.

Dilemma: Investing for growth is a prerequisite, but achieving growth and increasing the duration of a comfortable retirement isn’t risk free. Growth investing isn’t a straight-line reward, we all remember the GFC and the impact on invested savings. The risk to our asset base is real, finding the appropriate balance of this risk and appropriate growth assets can only come with a genuine understanding of the possible investments and how each may impact on retiree lifestyles.

Certainty

Need: With only our asset base to support our living standards, providing certainty is critical to maintaining those standards.

Challenge: Investing is uncertain. Retirement requires a level of certainty that traditional approaches may not facilitate. Certainty has an opportunity cost: lower risk necessitates lower expected peak returns.

There’s also a client engagement necessity of certainty. Australians are under-advised, so presenting them with comprehensible solutions and building trust as their partner is critical. It’s not hard to imagine that this trust would never eventuate if we were to introduce too much uncertainty, ultimately losing retirees through the diminished perception of the value of advice.

Being a genuine source of value to retirees throughout the most important part of their financial lives is of significant mutual benefit. This trust is facilitated through the use of solutions that provide increased certainty to investment outcomes.

Investment certainty and growth aren’t positively associated so approaches to retirement investing need to take certainty into account far more than in the accumulation phase. As a retiree knowing that my asset base will support a comfortable retirement for as long as possible is, arguably the most important goal to achieve.

Source: Bloomberg, based on calendar year total returns

Dilemma: People need advice to navigate the most complex of investment problems any of us face. Building trust in what we provide as fiduciaries is critical. The marriage of “complexity of challenge” and “simplicity of solution” isn’t straight forward or always self-evident, but is necessary to earn the trust of retirees.

Conclusion

In retirement, the investment engine of accumulation is still required. The task we set our engine is very different as finding the right mix of strategies providing Income, Growth and Certainty is imperative. Simply put, we have different needs as retirement investors.

Different needs require a different approach. The same strategies we employed in accumulation won’t work in retirement. We know this balance is imperative but equally important is the balance of the message for clients.

What remains constant, if not more important, is the trust we must maintain with retirees. We believe an understanding of the three key pillars of retirement investing, along with the challenges in achieving each and the dilemmas presented is essential. Having retirees’ needs at the centre of this understanding provides the best position to engage in the successful pursuit of a longer, more comfortable retirement.

Life is full of certainties, in retirement it’s no different: doing nothing leads to having nothing.

The solution isn’t easy, it requires; forgetting our investment approach in accumulation, different actions in the consideration of building investment structures and the adoption of unique investment approaches to truly ensure the retirement investment engine is working for retirees.

Specialised approaches to investing are the only way to breach this shortfall for retirees. Growing our asset base through a mix of growth, income and certainty increases the likelihood improving retirees’ retirement lifestyle for longer.

1 ATO Taxation Statistics 2016–17, Median super account balance, by ages 65 – 69, 2016–17 financial year
2 The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Limited, Retirement Standard for retirees, March Quarter 2019, Comfortable Lifestyle
3 The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Limited, Retirement Standard for retirees, March Quarter 2019, Comfortable Lifestyle
4 ATO Taxation Statistics 2016–17, Median super account balance, by ages 65 – 69, 2016–17 financial year
5 Lonsec Risk Profiles 2018, Step 3: Long term asset class return and risk assumptions, October 2018
6 ASFA, Retirement Standard March 2019, assumed investment earning rate
7 Calculated using Lonsec Risk Profiles, Long Term Asset Class Return and Risk assumptions to generate 6% p.a. expected return and using +/- 1 standard deviation to determine range of outcomes with c.66% confidence

Important Information

This document is intended for licensed financial advisers and institutional clients only and is not intended for use by retail clients. The information in this document is general information only and is not based on the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular investor. No representation, warranty or undertaking is given or made in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the information presented in this document. Financial conclusions are reasonably held at the time of completion but subject to change without notice.

Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd ABN 67 130 534 342, AFS Licence No, 333732 assumes no obligation to update this document following publication. Except for any liability which cannot be excluded, Talaria, its directors, officers, employees and agents disclaim all liability for any error or inaccuracy in, misstatement or omission from this document or any loss or damage suffered by the reader or any other person as a consequence of relying upon it.

As it continues to grapple with the challenges facing retirees, the Australian retirement industry in some ways resembles a research institution―continually coming up with ideas for solutions to those challenges, testing them, then implementing them and reviewing the results.

For those involved in such an enterprise, it’s always interesting to see how well (or badly) those solutions work in practice, and the extent to which they’ve validated their research hypotheses.

At AllianceBernstein, we’ve been running the numbers on an investment strategy we launched five years ago, primarily for investors saving for retirement.

The strategy was developed in collaboration with a major Australian superannuation fund which had asked us to look for ways to “smooth the ride” for its members―that is, to help them earn meaningful investment returns while reducing the downside risk in their portfolios.

Reducing downside risk is, of course, important for investors who are in retirement or approaching it: the less their portfolios lose, the more money they have left over to deal with future market drawdowns, and the risk that they might live longer than expected.

There are several aspects to the strategy but, at its heart, is a portfolio of low-volatility stocks and a focus on aiming to limit downside risk to 50% of what the market experiences, while seeking to capture 80% of the upside when the market recovers.

Our research indicated that this might be achievable by combining careful stock selection (about which more later) with the so-called low-volatility paradox (the well-attested fact that a portfolio of low-volatility stocks can outperform the market over time on a risk-adjusted basis).

It’s been an eventful five years with several market ups and downs and our research hypothesis has been well tested. What have we learned?

SMOOTHER, BUT STILL THE OCCASIONAL BUMP

Pleasingly, the strategy has performed well, outperforming the market over the period (Display) and providing investors with a smoother ride, particularly when the market fell.

Downside Protection Generated Outperformance

April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2019

Source: S&P Dow Jones and AB; see Performance Disclosure.

As of March 31, 2019

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Based on a representative Managed Volatility Equities account vs. S&P/ASX 300 Franking Credit Adjusted Daily Total Return (Tax-Exempt)

The returns presented above are gross of fees. The results do not reflect the deduction of investment-management fees or Fund costs. Performance figures include the value of any franking (or imputation) credits received. Numbers may not sum due to rounding. Periods of more than one year are annualised.

*For determining months when index is up or down, performance of S&P/ASX 300 (i.e., excluding franking credits) is used.

In fact, the strategy’s buffer on the downside contributed most to outperformance: the portfolio’s mean monthly return was 1.4% higher than the index when the market dipped and 0.3% lower when the market rose.

It’s interesting to note, too, that the strategy exceeded our aims in terms of upside/downside performance, with the portfolio suffering only 47% of the downside when the market fell (compared to our 50% target) and capturing 90% of the upside (our target was 80%).

There is a compounding effect at work here: limited downside means that the portfolio has less ground to make up when the market recovers, and this can contribute to outperformance over time.

It turns out, however, that even a strategy carefully designed to withstand volatility can experience the occasional bump, as happened when banks and mining companies performed very strongly after Donald Trump was elected US President in November 2016.

Bank and mining stocks tend to be volatile and, because they don’t figure highly in our low-volatility strategy, they were underweighted by our portfolio at the time. Financials and materials, of course, are the Australian share market’s biggest sectors. As they drove the market up, our portfolio lagged.

But the effect was short-lived and had relatively little impact on overall performance, appearing to validate one part of our hypothesis, that a low-volatility portfolio can outperform over time. What about the other part, regarding stock selection and portfolio management?

THE BIGGEST LESSON OF ALL

This consisted of five basic principles:

  • choose low-volatility stocks where the underlying businesses are high quality, with good cash flows and strong balance sheets, and the shares are reasonably valued
  • use fundamental research to avoid ‘volatility traps’, or the risk that idiosyncratic factors―such as a takeover bid―can make a normally stable stock suddenly volatile
  • ignore market benchmarks when constructing the portfolio: this makes it easier to focus on low-volatility stocks, and to avoid the volatility inherent in Australian equity indices
  • invest up to 20% of the portfolio in global stocks as a way of reducing risk, and making up for the necessity of limiting the portfolio’s access to the Australian market
  • manage macroeconomic risk―such as the potential impact on the portfolio of Brexit or the US-China trade wars―thoughtfully, so that the removal of one risk doesn’t inadvertently create exposure to another

Applying these principles consistently contributed positively to performance over the period.

Perhaps the biggest lesson we learned, however, is that it’s possible to deliver investors above-market returns with below-market volatility.

We’re happy to share that knowledge, and the benefits it delivers, with our colleagues in the industry who are seeking to create a better retirement future for Australians.

The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations and do not necessarily represent the views of all AB portfolio-management teams and are subject to revision over time.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AB MANAGED VOLATILITY EQUITIES FUND AllianceBernstein Investment Management Australia Limited (ABN 58 007 212 606, AFSL 230 683) (“ABIMAL”) is the responsible entity of the AllianceBernstein Managed Volatility Equities Fund (ARSN 099 739 447) (“Fund” or “AB Managed Volatility Equities Fund”) and is the issuer of units in the Fund. AllianceBernstein Australia Limited (“ABAL”) ABN 53 095 022 718, AFSL 230 698 is the investment manager of the Fund. ABAL in turn has delegated a portion of the investment manager function to AllianceBernstein L.P.(“AB”). The Fund’s Product Disclosure Statement (“PDS”) is available at the following link https://web.alliancebernstein.com/funds/au/equity/managed-volatility-equities.htm

or by contacting the client services team at AllianceBernstein Australia Limited at (02) 9255 1299.

Neither this document nor the information contained in it are intended to take the place of professional advice. Please note that past performance is not indicative of future performance and projections, although based on current information, may not be realised. Information, forecasts and opinions can change without notice and neither ABIMAL or ABAL guarantees the accuracy of the information at any particular time. Although care has been exercised in compiling the information contained in this report, neither ABIMAL or ABAL warrants that this document is free from errors, inaccuracies or omissions.

This document is released by AllianceBernstein Australia Limited ABN 53 095 022 718, AFSL 230 698.

DISCLAIMER

This document is provided solely for informational purposes and is not an offer to buy or sell securities. The information, forecasts and opinions set out in this document have not been prepared for any recipient’s specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. Neither this document nor the information contained in it are intended to take the place of professional advice. You should not take action on specific issues based on the information contained in the attached without first obtaining professional advice. The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations and do not necessarily represent the views of all AB portfolio-management teams. Current analysis does not guarantee future results.

INFORMATION ABOUT ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN

AllianceBernstein (AB) is a leading global investment management and research firm. We bring together a wide range of insights, expertise and innovations to advance the interests of our institutional investors, individuals and private clients in major world markets. AB offers a comprehensive range of research, portfolio management, wealth management and client-service offices around the world, reflecting our global capabilities and the needs of our clients. As at March 31, 2019, our firm managed US$555 billion in assets, including US$257 billion on behalf of institutions. These include pension plans, superannuation schemes, charities, insurance companies, central banks, and governments in more than 45 countries. This document is released by AllianceBernstein Australia Limited (“ABAL”) ABN 53 095 022 718, AFSL 230 698. AllianceBernstein Australia Limited (ABAL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the AllianceBernstein, L.P. Group (AB).

To access the insights, please click here.

An in-depth analysis of the new social security means test assessment of lifetime income streams and the significant opportunities it presents for retirement income advice.

To access the insights, please click here.

Important information: Any express or implied rating or advice is limited to general advice, it doesn’t consider any personal needs, goals or objectives.  Before making any decision about financial products, consider whether it is personally appropriate for you in light of your personal circumstances. Obtain and consider the Product Disclosure Statement for each financial product and seek professional personal advice before making any decisions regarding a financial product.