The SAM Climate Fund has been very well received since we added it to the RaboDirect platform in September 2009 but sustainable funds are relatively new to a lot of us so we thought it might be useful to call on the experts and put your questions to them.
So, if you’ve anything you’d like to ask about the Climate Fund, SAM or sustainability as an investment opportunity – now’s your chance. Drop us a line and we’ll shine a little light on the subject for you.
There’s lots going on. With the big Irish banks fully occupied with NAMA, the smaller ones involved in merger talks, the announcement and immediate implementation of the Halifax withdrawal and the news that Northern Rock may possibly lift their 100% UK state guarantee, it has certainly been an eventful start to the year.
New Year’s a great time for looking forward, making fresh plans and setting new goals. We take our hat off to anyone who’s still off the chocolate and following their new exercise regime. For those of you who’ve already fallen off the wagon – don’t worry, there’s always next year.
Irish investors remain gloomy about the outlook for the Irish economy according to results of our most recent RaboDirect Investor Barometer which shows that 85% of respondents are pessimistic about the economy’s prospects over the next 12 months. The survey of Irish investors also reveals that confidence in the global economy has held up with 58% of investors suggesting they have a positive outlook for the world economy over the next year.
The collapse of World credit markets, bailouts and nationalisation of banks across the globe and the Irish construction bubble bursting are just some of lowlights Stephen Kinsella touches on as he takes us through ‘The year that wasn’t’, but despite the 2009 hangover he’s still positive as we move into 2010. Find out why.
The pessimists have had an absolute ball. Doom and gloom galore. And is it just me, or have we become a nation of debators - happy to grumble, complain and delay taking the hard decisions required to get us on the road to a sustainable recovery?
It is said that Christmas is for children and if you mean by that, the tree, the brightly wrapped toys and parcels, the panto and the general level of excitement, then I suppose it is. But what I don’t ‘get’ about Christmas is the volume of worthless junk that our children receive, much of it laid out for the nation on the annual Late Late Toy Show.
I was part of an internal training session recently and the chat from our call centre was that we’re receiving an ever increasing amount of calls from customers looking for alternatives to deposit accounts - hardly surprising really given the significant drop in headline rates available to customers.
My first RaboDirect e-Zine column – all the way back in the heady boom days of June 2005 – was about paying yourself first – making sure that you see the merits of your labour before the Revenue, the landlord, banker, butcher or baker gets their share of your money.
I still think it’s a good piece of advice, one that involves saving and investing part of your income, no matter what your circumstances; it’s as much a state of mind as it is a state of your earnings.
Pensions might have taken a bit of a beating in the press recently but safeguarding your retirement is still very important so RaboDirect have teamed up with Zurich Life to give PRSAs the straight talking treatment and make pensions available end-to-end online. I don’t want to sound like I’m boasting, but just thought I’d mention we’re the only retail bank in Ireland to offer that.