ASX set to dip after tech stocks weighed Nasdaq
1 of 1
Exclusive: An industry super fund for electrical workers has been accused of wasting members’ savings on questionable sponsorship deals, lavish corporate events and overseas staff junkets one week after it was named by regulators as one of Australia’s worst performing operators.
The Energy Industries Superannuation Scheme (EISS), which was one of 13 funds to last week fail the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority’s new annual performance test, has also been accused of fostering a ‘toxic’ corporate culture causing staff to resign.
EISS Super has been accused of wasting members’ money on parties, overseas trips and questionable charity deals.Credit:EISS Super
EISS manages $6 billion in retirement savings for 21,000 members.
Seven former senior EISS employees who spoke to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald claimed wastage had been prevalent at the fund for years. The former staff members spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive information and feared retribution.
EISS has held lavish staff Christmas parties at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art and Canterbury racecourse in recent years, featuring live music and entertainment, which multiple former employees described as “very expensiveâ€.
“It didn’t sit well with the majority of people,†one source said. “This is not our money.â€
In mid-March 2019, one of EISS’s senior managers was sent via business class airfares to the US to attend a Harvard management program, which multiple sources said cost the fund at least $75,000. An EISS spokesman defended the spending on the trip. “The fund is committed to the professional development of our staff because it is in the best interests of members.â€
Read the full story here.
Multimedia giant Disney has refused to clarify how much it claimed through the JobKeeper wage subsidy program in 2020 amid revelations workers at the company and its ESPN subsidiary received thousands through the scheme while revenues grew.
US-based Disney, which boasts a market value of $US334 billion ($453 billion), operates a number of production companies and local subsidiaries in Australia which primarily collect licensing fees for its extensive film productions, subscription revenue from its Disney+ streaming platform, and merchandising royalties for products and tie-ins, such as its range of licensed â€Ooshie†toys released through supermarket giant Woolworths last year.
Disney, which owns Marvel franchises such as Captain America and The Avengers, likely received millions in JobKeeper.Credit:Disney
The company’s US parent also owns a majority stake in sports giant ESPN, which claimed $369,000 in JobKeeper payments through its local operations last year, filings with corporate regulator ASIC show. This was off the back of a 1.65 per cent rise in revenue to $55.4 million, though profits fell 13 per cent, largely due to an additional $2 million in royalties paid by the company to related parties.
However, a local spokesperson for Disney’s larger main Australian subsidiary - the Walt Disney Company Australia - refused to clarify how much the broader company took via JobKeeper, despite fresh revelations at least some of its employees had been placed on the scheme.
The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have seen local employee payslips which show JobKeeper payments commencing in May last year, which was the cutoff for companies to alert the ATO if they would be participating in the scheme.
Read Dominic’s full story this morning here.
Stocks are down on Wall Street in afternoon trading on Wednesday (US time) following a Federal Reserve report that shows US economic activity slowed in the US summer amid rising worries over resurgent coronavirus cases and mounting supply chain problems and labour shortages.
The Fed’s latest survey of the nation’s business conditions, dubbed the “Beige Book,†found that US economic activity “downshifted†in July and August. In its report, the Fed said the slowdown was largely attributable to a pullback in dining out, travel and tourism in most parts of the country, reflecting concerns about the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.
US markets were weaker for another session. Credit:AP
In late trade, the S&P 500 index is down 0.2 per cent, the Dow Jones has lost 0.2 per cent and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.6 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is set to open lower, with futures at 4.59am AEST pointing to a fall of 27 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open.
The benchmark S&P 500 was roughly split between gainers and losers, but weakness in technology and communication stocks weighed down the market. Apple fell 1.3 per cent and chipmaker Nvidia fell 1.5 per cent. Less risky investments, including consumer staples and utilities, were making broad gains.
Shares of cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase fell 2.2 per cent after the company disclosed it was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission over its plans to offer its cryptocurrency holders a chance to earn interest on their assets if they lent them out. The company said the regulator has threatened to take civil enforcement action, and the launch of the lending program has been delayed until at least October.
The market has been trading within a narrow range of gains and losses for the past couple of weeks, as investors look for any sort of understanding of where the US economy is headed with the widespread delta variant of the coronavirus. Investors could be in for a choppy market through September as they monitor the Federal Reserve and Washington, which has to deal with budget reconciliation, infrastructure spending and the debt ceiling.
“If you look at the calendar, it’s aggressive,†said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management.
Read the full story here.
ASX futures were down 0.5 per cent to 7478 just before 7:00am.
Hello and welcome to today’s Markets Live!
The ASX 200 is set to follow Wall Street lower, with the S&P 500 retreating for a third straight session overnight and concerns about the spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus weighing on investors’ minds.
Your editor today is Emma Koehn.
This blog is not intended as financial advice.
1 of 1
0 Response to "ASX set to dip after tech stocks weighed Nasdaq"
Post a Comment