Mums and dads and super

Mums and dads don't understand super, apparently.

More reform pushes for credit rating agencies

And they need it, too. Though to say that they 'caused' the GFC is attributing a bit too much blame, I think.

Richard Glayas in the Oz.

Private equity and Pacific Brands

Looks like the PE guys did OK out of Pacific Brands.
Michael West in the Herald has the story.

Invest in index funds?

More evidence (reported in the New York Times) that it's hard to systematically beat the market.

Similar stuff from Australia - this time the Sydney Morning Herald.

Dividend imputation

Ken Henry, the head of Treasury, flags a possible change in the taxation treatment of dividend income. Hmmm; as long as they don't ONLY remove imputation, then it could work. Recall that the arguement for imputation is that it removes the double taxation on dividends; first in the hands of the company as it pays tax on its taxable income, and then in the hands of the investor when it receives that income in the form of a dividend.

Naughty baords

Terry McRann reports

And more from Andrew Main about disclosure (particularly of bad news).

CEO pay and its disclosure

Lots of media coverage of CEO pay, especially in light of the Pacific Brands decision to move some operations to China. Here's an example.

Michael West in the Herald also chimes in.

Two quick thoughts:
1. Why should government-imposed 'caps' on pay be limited to the business sector (or more particularly, to firms that receive some sort of government assistance)? Why not entertainers, or sportsmen who receive say Australian Institute of Sport assistance. Let's at least be consistent.

2. In the case of Pacific Brands, the bonuses in question appear to have been earned in 2007-08, which happened to be a record year for the company.