Derivatives use and financial instrument disclosure in the extractives industry

This article documents the use and disclosure of derivatives in the Australian extractives industry. We find that derivatives are used by 23 per cent of our sample, with mitigation of commodity risk and foreign exchange risk being the most common purposes for which derivatives are used. The most common types of derivatives used in the sector for hedging purposes are forward rate agreements and options. Results indicate that derivative use is positively associated with financial risk and firm size. We also examine the relation between firm characteristics and the extent of financial instrument disclosure, using a disclosure index based on the additional requirements in IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures. Empirical results reveal that large firms with higher leverage, which use derivatives, and are audited by a Big 4 auditor provide more extensive disclosure of financial instruments.     

近距离了解澳洲金融市场

9月8日至12日,澳大利亚投资和金融服务协会（The Investment and Financial Services Association,IFSA）率领澳大利亚金融服务业CEO代表团一行19人对中国的香港、上海、北京进行了访问。Vanguard投资澳大利亚有限公司及Vanguard亚太董事总经理、投资与金融服务协会OFSA）副主席、本次访华团联席团长Jeremy Duffield先生在接受《国际融资》采访时表示：“代表团此行的目的是为中澳两国的金融服务业架接更加密切往来的桥梁,拓展合作机会,并进一步加强两国同业间和监管领域的现有关系。此次访问不仅达到而且超出了我们预期目的。澳大利亚投资与金融服务协会（IFSA）首席执行官、本次访华团联席团长Richard Gilbert先生在接受《国际融资》采访时说：“此次访问对澳洲金融服务供应商认可度的提高无疑将带来更多的商机,IFSA的成员期待与中国的基金管理业和监管部门开展更多的合作,共同努力把这种认可带来的好处最大化。”澳洲金融服务业cE0代表团的对华访问,标志着中澳两国业界间一种互利双赢的长期关系开始建立。     

Financial literacy and financial literacy programmes in Australia

Financial services markets require consumers to be more financially literate if they are to manage their finances effectively. Consequently, there have been an increasing number of attempts to measure financial literacy, as variously defined, and in response to observed deficiencies in financial literacy, an expanding number of financial literacy programmes implemented worldwide, not least in Australia. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, review the existing evidence on the level of financial literacy in Australia, along with the posited determinants and potential impacts on consumers and the marketing of financial services. Second, discuss the financial literacy programmes currently in place in Australia aimed at increasing the level of financial literacy across the population as a whole and in specific groups set in place by government, industry, community and workplace initiatives. The article includes brief critiques of the process of measuring, assessing and understanding financial literacy as it stands and the purpose, design and evaluation of the financial literacy programmes currently in place.     

Effects of financial constraints on corporate policies in Australia

We jointly study the impact of financial constraints on Australian companies’ investment decisions and demand for liquidity. By examining a large sample of Australian firms over the period 1990–2003, we find that financial constraints not only reduce the sensitivity of investment to the availability of internal funds, but also increase the responsiveness of cash holdings to internally generated cash flows. Further analysis shows that the impact of financial constraints varies across different cash flow states; that is, financial constraints have a small effect on corporate investment and cash policies when cash flows are positive. In contrast, the severity of constraints is high in negative cash flow years in which the cost disadvantage of external finance coincides with deteriorating operating performance.     

金融工具确认和计量实务探讨

近年来金融工具的运用日益广泛,金融工具结构的复杂性和交易的特殊性使得传统的会计原则无法满足其核算的需求。因此,财政部在2006年发布的《企业会计准则》中专门以4个准则规范了金融工具的确认、计量和披露。下面笔者就金融工具确认和计量方面一些实务问题作一简要探讨。     

Ethical investing in Australia: Is there a financial penalty?

This study provides new evidence on the performance and investment style of retail ethical funds in Australia. By applying a conditional multi-factor model and after controlling for investment style, time-variation in betas and home bias, we observe no evidence of significant differences in risk-adjusted returns between ethical and conventional funds during 1992–2003. This result however is sensitive to the chosen time period. During 1992–1996 domestic ethical funds under-performed their conventional counterparts significantly, whereas during 1996–2003 ethical funds matched the performance of conventional funds more closely. This suggests that ethical mutual funds underwent a catching up phase, before delivering returns similar to those of conventional mutual funds.     

On the intertemporal value relevance of conventional financial accounting in Australia

This paper examines whether the relevance of conventional (earnings focused) accounting information for valuation has declined in Australia over a recent period of 28 years. Motivation is provided by the anecdotal concerns of financial analysts, accounting regulators, and a cluster of US centric academic research papers that conclude that the relevance of financial accounting (and earnings in particular) has declined over time. After controlling for nonlinearities and stock price inefficiencies, we find that the value relevance of core accounting earnings has not declined. A possible exception is found for small stocks. We also observe that net book values are relatively less important in Australia when compared to the USA. Our results are informative for investors who require feedback on valuation issues and the International Accounting Standards Board regulators in any further moves towards a balance sheet focus.     

Methodological issues in the use of financial ratios

It appears that the extensive use of financial ratios by both practitioners and researchers is often motivated by tradition and convenience rather than resulting from theoretical considerations or from a careful statistical analysis. Basic questions, such as: Is the control for firm size, a major objective of the ratio form, called for by the theory examined; what is the structural relationship between the examined variables and size; and what is the optimal way to control for industry-wide factors, are rarely addressed by users of financial ratios. The major purpose of this study is to discuss the conditions under which conventional tools, such as financial ratios and measures of industry central tendency, achieve the intended objectives of analysis (e.g., size control). Various issues related to financial analysis, such as spurious correlation due to a common denominator, the choice of an optimal size variable, and the treatment of outlier observations, are also examined.     

Demographic product segmentation in financial services products in Australia and New Zealand

Segmentation and targeting are cited as being a core part of marketing strategy for any organisation. While there has been much written on brand segmentation, product segmentation research has not been common. This paper examines whether different types of customers buy different banking products. A sample of 52,000 Australian households and 12,000 in New Zealand from the Roy Morgan Single Source Survey was utilised to profile users of different banking products on offer. The results indicated that there is some segmentation or partitions evident in a limited number of banking products; for the most part there was little difference in customer profile across comparable products offered by Australian and New Zealand banks.     

Derivative use,fund flows and investment manager performance

Prior literature which examines the use of derivatives by investment managers does not discern between different types of derivative trading strategies. This study is the first to examine and gather data on a particular type of derivative trading strategy undertaken by investment managers. We examine the extent to which equity fund managers use index futures to manage fund flows and the effect this has on their alpha and market timing measures of performance. Our results show that funds that do not use derivatives exhibit lower returns and negative market timing skills when they experience fund flow. The performance of funds that use derivatives, however, is independent of investor’s liquidity demands. In fact, the unconditional performance of the average user fund is statistically equivalent to the performance of the average non-user fund conditional on zero fund flow. Our results provide evidence that derivatives can be beneficial for mutual fund holders under certain conditions.     

加强区域金融合作广大人民币在区域中的使用

近年来,东亚区域合作框架均对促进本币使用进行了讨论和研究。EMEAP通过合作与交流,推动本地区金融体系建设和加深各中央银行和货币当局间的关系;ASEAN＋3财金合作机制推动了建立区域资金救援机制、区域债券市场发展、短期资本流动监控等领域的合作。随着区域金融合作的强化,以及我国利率、汇率市场化改革和人民币资本账户可兑换的推进,人民币在区域经贸和金融合作中将发挥越来越大的作用。     

The use of on-line summative assessment in an undergraduate financial accounting course

According to the Quality Assurance Agency [QAA (2006). Section 6: Assessment of students, Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education. <http://www.qaa.ac.uk/>. Accessed 14.03.2007] “Assessment describes any processes that appraise an individual’s knowledge, understanding, abilities or skills” and is inextricably linked to a course or programme’s intended learning outcomes. Assessment also has a fundamental effect on students’ learning where it serves a variety of purposes including evaluation, feedback and motivation. Assessment also provides a performance indicator for both students and staff. Computer-aided assessment (CAA) offers an option for “sustainable assessment” and provides opportunities for creating innovative assessment practices that help engage students and increase their motivation for learning. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study where a series of on-line summative assessments were introduced into a first-year financial accounting course. Feedback from students obtained from an evaluative survey and focus group interviews indicates that assessment played a significant role in the teaching/learning process. That is, students perceived a beneficial impact on learning, motivation, and engagement.     

Suboptimal segmentation: Assessing the use of demographics in financial services advertising

Marketers routinely make use of demographic-based segmentation as a means of targeting customers of financial services. This article builds on growing evidence that a demographic-based approach is ill-founded. Using a large sample we investigate whether demographic information is of use in segmenting customers and find little support for existing practice. Implications for researchers and managers are discussed.     

Suboptimal segmentation: Assessing the use of demographics in financial services advertising

Marketers routinely make use of demographic-based segmentation as a means of targeting customers of financial services. This article builds on growing evidence that a demographic-based approach is ill-founded. Using a large sample we investigate whether demographic information is of use in segmenting customers and find little support for existing practice. Implications for researchers and managers are discussed.     

Access and use of financial markets for basic education expenses

As a result of the financial crisis of 2008, the macroeconomic adjustment has affected Mexican homes through greater unemployment and a drop in purchasing power. Moreover, families had to keep financing education costs, sometimes going into debt in the formal or informal financial market. The hypothesis of this article proposes that the access and use of formal and informal financial products makes it possible to reduce financial problems associated to education expenses at the basic education levels. The probit model is estimated with a sample comprised of four hundred homes in the municipality of San Pedro Cholula (state of Puebla). The results indicate that a worsening in the work conditions and the loss of employment are associated to a greater probability of facing financial difficulties. Likewise, the access to the formal financial market allows reducing the probability of facing these difficulties, whereas for the informal market the results are a function of the characteristics of each financial intermediary.     

The role of financial literacy in describing the use of professional financial advisors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Journal of Financial Services Marketing - This paper documents the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of profession financial advisors across a broad sample of financial decision makers...     

Optimal capital structure: A multi-period programming model for use in financial planning

This paper describes a multi-period, chance constrained mathematical programming model to compute for each period, the firm's optimal debt to equity ratio and the optimal maturity distribution of its debt. The model assumes that the firm's objective is to maximize total value of the firm, and that the firm operates in a world of uncertainty, with corporate income taxes and bankruptcy costs. Finally, the actual coupon rate paid by the firm which is commensurate to the risk of default is endogenously determined by the model.     

Capital expenditures,financial constraints,and the use of options

This paper analyzes why gold mining firms use options instead of linear strategies to hedge their gold price risk. Consistent with financial constraints based theories, the largest and least financially constrained firms are the most likely to hedge with insurance strategies (put options), while more constrained firms finance the purchase of puts by selling calls (collars). The most financially constrained firms use strategies that involve selling calls. Firms with large investment programs are also more likely to use insurance rather than linear strategies. Firms’ hedging instrument choices are also correlated with current market conditions, suggesting that managers’ market views partially drive hedging instrument choices.