Products & Services

Surreal hoot: film tax offset funds US story

The Australian Financial Review
Page: 10 : 16 April 2008
Original article by Michaela Boland

LexisNexis Summary: Products & Services

Digital production company Animal Logic will use Australia's 40% film production offset for the animated feature "Guardians of Ga'Hoole". Animal Logic has previously created digital effects for "Happy Feet", "The Matrix" series and other films, but "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" will be the first in-house film project for the company. It will be directed by American Zack Snyder and based on the US series of children's books by Kathryn Lasky. The project will be produced with Village Roadshow and Warner Bros, and has been deemed sufficiently Australian by the Film Finance Corporation to qualify for the rebate despite substantial US involvement

Listed trust defensive on high income

Independent Financial Adviser
Page: 314 : 14 April 2008

LexisNexis Summary: Products & Services

Aurora Funds Management has launched five funds over the past five years. They include the Sandringham Dividend Income Trust, the Van Eyk Alternatives Fund, and the Property Buy-Write Fund. Aurora lists the funds on the Australian Securities Exchange, seeing this as cheaper alternative than having them listed on the 150 or more investment platforms in Australia. The Sandringham Dividend Income Trust, whose holdings include AMP and Tabcorp, concentrates on buying shares that pay high dividends at around the time they declare dividends. Once the shares in question have earned the dividend and franking credit, they are sold

E-Business

Founder of Destra down with Opes but not out

The Age
Page: B2 : 16 April 2008
Original article by Jesse Hogan

LexisNexis Summary: E-Business

Destra CEO, Domenic Carosa, announced that he is looking for ways to increase his stake in the company on 15 April 2008. Carosa was destra's second-largest shareholder prior to the collapse of stockbroker Opes Prime, although his shares were seized after the firm went into administration. Carosa said he still has "quite a lot of options in the company" and would look to buy shares on-market or renegotiate his contract with the digital media company

Consumer Behaviour

Personal debt bucks loan slump

The Sydney Morning Herald
Page: 21 : 16 April 2008
Original article by Clancy Yeates

LexisNexis Summary: Consumer Behaviour

New figures show that there was a 0.9 per cent increase in approvals for personal loans in Australia in February 2008. Personal debt reached $A7.4bn, a level not seen since June 2007. Shane Lee of Citibank says a downturn in such approvals can be expected at some point, as the decline in consumer spending begins to have an impact. More consumers also opted to refinance existing loans or consolidate a number of separate debts. Meanwhile, there was a 10.4 per cent decline in commercial loan approvals, while housing loan approvals were down 5.9 per cent

FPA cracks down on rogue advisers

Independent Financial Adviser
Page: 8 : 14 April 2008
Original article by Kate Kachor

LexisNexis Summary: Consumer Behaviour

The Financial Planning Association (FPA) of Australia has released its first-ever "Complaints and Discipline Report". The report, which details complaints made against FPA members and any subsequent action taken by the FPA, covered the period between January 2007 and March 2008. Future reports will be released on a quarterly basis. The first "Complaints and Discipline Report" reveals that the FPA investigated 130 complaints against members during the subject period, with formal action taken in 13 instances