Julia
In Memoriam
- Joined
- 10 May 2005
- Posts
- 16,986
- Reactions
- 1,973
... and was quite taken aback at how much the featured "sophisticated investor" had lost on his Paperlinx hybrids.
ASIC can't win, can they! They're constantly criticised for not being sufficiently protective toward investors, and now they make an attempt to draw attention to the risks involved in hybrids and they - along with the ABC apparently - are engaged in a beat-up!What a shonkey story...unusual for the 7.30 report to do a beat up story, the risks are spelled out in the prospectus, buyer beware.
ASIC can't win, can they! They're constantly criticised for not being sufficiently protective toward investors, and now they make an attempt to draw attention to the risks involved in hybrids and they - along with the ABC apparently - are engaged in a beat-up!
Of course potential investors should take responsibility and research any investment thoroughly. But many don't. So how about giving ASIC a break for actually trying to be helpful.
Whilst the story certainly gave warnings of what can go wrong it failed to highlight some of the positives. Not all hybrids are the same and as So Cynical says, it's all up front and in the prospectus. Shareholders nearly always rank lower than hybrid holders and in most cases if interest payments are stopped for any reason then no dividends are paid on fully paid Ordinary shares either (That is the case for most hybrids). Then there are hybrids that pay cumulative interest payments. What that means is that if for any reason payments stop then the payments that should have been made accumulate and eventually must be paid to the holder. Whilst those payments are withheld ordinary shareholders get nothing.
.
However, I must agree with So Cynical on the story ...
Honestly, Paperlinx is not an investment I personally would put 50c into .. let alone $300,000. What the hell is a 'self styled' sophisticated investor doing putting $300,000 of his hard earned into a single company that has not been performing pretty horribly financially. (he would have been attracted at by a high yield, high because of the significant risk of it not being paid)
The story is a bit of a beat up, the vast majority of hybrids are fine. (as part of a diversified fixed interest portfolio)
ASIC can't win, can they! They're constantly criticised for not being sufficiently protective toward investors, and now they make an attempt to draw attention to the risks involved in hybrids and they - along with the ABC apparently - are engaged in a beat-up!.
Oh for god's sake, I wish I'd never posted the link. I've made no suggestion about the usefulness or otherwise of hybrids. Just commented that ASIC seem to be attempting to be on the front foot for a change."Protective towards investors?".The Nanny State cannot protect fools from making bad investments, any more than it can protect them from killing themselves on the road, drowning themselves on the beaches or getting sucked into Nigerian get-rich scams.
Oh for god's sake, I wish I'd never posted the link. I've made no suggestion about the usefulness or otherwise of hybrids. Just commented that ASIC seem to be attempting to be on the front foot for a change.
Of course the bloke who invested $300K in the Paperlinx hybrids was stupid.
Hopefully, however, the broadcasting of his experience might make a few people think twice before doing something similar.
Send your objections to ASIC and the ABC if you're so annoyed about the segment on "7.30".
Oh for god's sake, I wish I'd never posted the link. I've made no suggestion about the usefulness or otherwise of hybrids.
I missed the AGL one. I would have considered that if I had seen it.
Hi ricee, I think the AGL notes are open until March 27th. I note on Comsec and Westpac Broking that they still show that it is available to purchase through the broker allocation. Maybe your broker might have an allocation too. If that's not posible and you are an AGL customer you can log in on AGL's website and apply through there. Hope that helps.
The only one I put in for was the AGL Subordinated Notes. Not much risk of AGL going broke and the 8.2% gross dividend looks good. I hope I get my allocation.
Apparently CBA just released a new issue of hybrids and they are the first Basel III compliant ones in Australia. Any members have any thoughts on them?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?