Letters: Equal treatment and investing in agriculture

Equal treatment for retirees

I agree with J Church’s suggestion for a feature summarising salient aspects of different types of retirement schemes, their major benefits, how they are funded and taxed and significant points of difference between them. This way, we would be primed to evaluate any new proposals, particularly regarding the fair and even-handed treatment of all groups.

Paul Torkington

Missing out on agriculture

There is a great deal written in the news these days about foreign land purchases, but little about why so few Australian businesses are investing in agriculture. Recently PrimeAg announced it was privatising its landholdings as share prices had not realised asset value. I would like to know why there is so little interest from within Australia for domestic agricultural investments. It seems to me that few corporate farms survive for any significant length of time.

Name withheld

RMBS article

In Ian Verrender’s article RMBS retail door finally opens, February 20, he states that the minimum investment in the Laminar Credit Opportunity Fund is $25,000, but the product disclosure statement says that the initial minimum is $100,000. Can you clarify this?

Name withheld

Editor’s response: The product disclosure statement (PDS) does indeed state that the initial minimum investment is $100,000, but following its release in mid-2012, the fund made the decision to reduce the minimum to $25,000. The PDS is updated on an annual basis, so it should reflect the correct minimum investment when a new version is issued later this year.

Investing in overseas property

I would like to know more about investing in overseas property from within a DIY super fund, particularly in the UK market. With favourable exchange rates and a long-term view, I think there is an opportunity there, but the mechanics of investing, such as obtaining a UK bank account in the fund’s name, pose a challenge. I would be very interested in reading an article on Eureka Report that could address some of the options and challenges available.

Name withheld

Arrium’s share price rise

A few weeks ago, Eureka Report indicated quite clearly that Arrium was not a stock to have in one’s portfolio. Could you please explain and justify that advice in view of the fact that Arrium’s share price has now risen approximately 30% from around 0.90 cents to $1.20?

Gerry Nolan

Editor’s response: In the February 11^th edition of Collected Wisdom, Arrium was rated a sell because the newsletters that week had pointed to the challenges facing the company, including its large debt holdings as well as its vulnerability to exchange rates and changes in steel and commodity prices. The newsletters currently view it as a high risk stock with a considerably lower fair value than $1.20, though this could change if Arrium takes steps to reduce debt. It’s important to note that the weekly Collected Wisdom column is an edited summary of a variety of well-known investment newsletters and major newspapers and the recommendations offered in the column represent the views published in these other publications.

Clime Growth Portfolio

A few weeks ago I read a very interesting article in Eureka Report (Taking stock from a market upturn, December 21) that had a table of the Clime growth portfolio. But I have been unable to find a more recent table of the portfolio on the website. Could you confirm if it was a one off or if it can be found somewhere else?

Chris Ostler

Editor’s response: You can find more detail on Clime portfolio’s at www.clime.com.au.

Small Resources Index

In Brendon Lau’s article, Fear Factor over small cap miners, February 20, there was a small resources chart that interested me. Could you confirm where the data was sourced from?

Ken Long

Brendon’s response: The data was sourced from Bloomberg. The code on Bloomberg for the ASX Small Resources Index is AS39 Index.

Eureka Report praise

I really like the succinct, no nonsense information that Eureka Report provides. I wish I had given more consideration to this website before now.

WB