MLC Market Watch

April’s Market Watch video series is now available.

View Investing in today’s market here. It contains the following videos:

- Brian Parker, an Investment Strategist at MLC, explains the latest economic developments and, in a separate video, provides his tips for comparing your fund in performance tables.

- Michelle Heinrich, Head of Investment Communications at MLC, looks at the benefits of staying invested in dividend paying shares and explains how, over the long term, this could be an effective way of growing and protecting your money.

Look out for next month’s video series which will include Brian’s update on economic developments at home and abroad, plus analysis on what this year’s Budget means for everyday Australians.

Stay tuned or why not subscribe to updates so you know when new videos are added to the site?

Please note the videos contain general information only. You should talk to your financial adviser to find out what’s most suitable for you.

If you do not have a financial adviser, call MLC on 132 652 and we’d be happy to put you in touch with one.

As part of our monthly Market Watch video series, MLC Senior Investment Specialist Natalie Comino presented six golden rules of investing.

Here’s the transcript from her video:

Golden rule number one is never lose sight of the fact that risk and return are related. This is easy to do when we’re in a bull market and double-digit returns are taken as the norm. However if you are looking for higher returns, you have to be willing to take on more risk. This means the value of your investment could change dramatically over a short period of time. The higher this volatility, the riskier these types of assets are.

Over the long term, growth assets like shares and property are expected to earn higher returns. But these investments will be more volatile so you will need a long time horizon and a strong stomach to ride the ups and downs you’ll experience. If you’re not prepared for this, then you might want to consider a more conservative strategy or assets that are expected to earn lower returns but are usually more stable performers, like cash and debt securities.

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Our first topic in the Market Watch video series is now available.

View ‘Facing the challenges of 2009′ here. It includes:

• - a market update by MLC Investment Strategist Brian Parker
• - a funds update by MLC Senior Investment Specialist John Owen
• - six golden rules of investing by MLC Senior Investment Specialist Natalie Comino

Brian Parker will be providing monthly market updates as part of the series.

So why not subscribe to updates so you know when a new video is added to the site?

Want to find out more about a specific topic? Send us a question.

Watch this space to find out what’s next in the series.

Tune in for the Market Watch video series which will begin on Thursday 26 February.

Our first topic ‘Facing the challenges of 2009′ will run for around 15 minutes and include:

• a market update by MLC Investment Strategist Brian Parker
• a funds update by MLC Senior Investment Specialist John Owen
• six golden rules of investing by MLC Senior Investment Specialist Natalie Comino

Regular market updates

Brian will then continue to provide a market update at the end of each month going forward. He will explain what’s been happening that month and how this is likely to affect you.

Submit a question if there’s something you’re interested in hearing more about. This will allow Brian to shape his content to the areas of most interest.

You may also want to subscribe to updates so you know when a new video is added to the site.

Watch this space to find out what’s next in the series.

It’s been a challenging year. And as 2008 comes to an end, you may well be wondering what 2009 has in store for us all.

With this in mind, MLC CEO Steve Tucker has recorded an end of year message [Video, 3:44min], giving his analysis of 2008 and his views on the coming year.

Stay tuned next year for lots more online discussions, webcasts and articles on Market Watch.

And remember, you can subscribe for updates to stay informed without having to visit the site each day.

The MLC Market Watch Team look forward to talking with you in 2009 and would like to wish you and your loved ones a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season.