Financial planning is the first step to building wealth and giving you the financial freedom you desire. Your personalised plan takes into account your current situation, where you want to be in the future, and how best to get there by managing the flow of your finances to achieve the future you’ve always pictured.

There are many elements that are taken into account to achieve your financial plan: your attitude towards risk, your time horizon, investment choice, cash flow and borrowing capacity.

Retirement should be one of the most rewarding parts of life’s journey – a time when we finally get to enjoy our achievements and spend more time with the people we love. And the plan for a better tomorrow starts today. 

The truth is the sooner you start to plan for retirement, the better your options are. Our expertise in retirement and superannuation planning, includes specialist knowledge of wealth management and self-managed super funds (SMSFs), and automated online tools like Altus Exchange, all in one place. By planning your retirement early, we can help you towards the retirement lifestyle you deserve. 

Altus Exchange is a place where your entire financial world comes together, on-line and in real time.

For many investors paperwork and multiple platform accounts can be overwhelming. It often makes it difficult to see the bigger picture. How do you know where you are going when you can’t see where you are?

Whether you are invested in managed funds, direct shares, term deposits, direct property or other investments, you can see your entire big picture and transact too.

Who can benefit:

• ANYONE with a self-managed superannuation fund;
• INVESTORS with more than a handful of separate investments;
• BUSY BUSINESS OWNERS or TIME POOR INDIVIDUALS wanting to take control of their personal financial worlds;
• INVESTORS seeking a modern financial solution.

Benefits to you:

• VIEW a consolidated picture of your assets and liabilities;
• TRANSACT on your investments;
• ADMINISTER your investments;
• REMOVE data collection hassles;
• FACILITATE the delivery of timely advice and dialogue with your Altus Adviser.

Our investment specialists can create an investment solution that delivers you the financial outcome you’re looking for, whilst ensuring your tolerance for risk is appropriately managed.

Investments can be short, medium or long term and we work with you to ensure the time horizon of your investments is aligned with your liquidity requirements and financial goals.

When it comes to paying for your child’s schooling, it’s best to start planning as soon as you can. We can help you lay the foundation for your children’s future using tax effective education funding strategies. You can even start before your child is born!

For busy executives, investors and family groups we provide an end to end service to take care of your whole financial world. From high end strategy, implementation, accounting and  paying the bills right down to acting as your private mail box these solutions can be tailored just for your needs.

As part of your overall investment strategy we may recommend utilising our Model Portfolio Series.

Our Model Portfolios include a number of investments that blend together to formulate your investment strategy, which is in line with your tolerance to risk.

What’s in it for you?

Having a Model Portfolio means that:

• Your investment selection is ready-made by experts in their field.
• Your portfolio is diversified – your nest egg is not all in the one basket.
• Changes to your investments over time are subject to our disciplined rebalancing process.

This may not initially seem important to you but it is a huge benefit. Our quarterly rebalancing process means that all asset allocations are automatically adjusted regularly according to your planned risk tolerance level.

• Your financial world is now structured and investment decisions aren’t made ad hoc or based on emotion.

In addition to our Model Portfolio Series, we also offer Model Portfolio Plus – ‘an overlaying’ strategy that can be effective in maximising your return given your level of risk.

How it Works

In a “Core and Satellite” approach, recommended investments make up two intertwined and complimentary strategies:

1. The core strategy is the Altus Model Portfolio, which is rebalanced quarterly. The Altus Model Portfolio provides exposure to asset classes that are broadly representative of the market.
2. Satellite strategies then added in addition to the core strategy, providing the potential to deliver higher returns at your risk tolerance.

Who does this suit?

This strategy is not for everyone. It may be better suited to more experienced investors who wish to segment their portfolios, and/or have a higher tolerance to risk, and/or a have a higher net worth.

When designing your financial plan its always necessary to ensure that your cashflow is appropriate for your ongoing requirements. Its all part of the mix. Investment, debt, investment returns, your free cash flow and taxation situation need to work in harmony to produce your optimal result. 

Before you start a SMSF, it’s important to weigh up the benefits and requirements. A SMSF gives you more control over your superannuation and retirement planning, better tax management, improved cash flow management, direct investment risk management, however there is also running costs to consider, the responsibilities are significant and there can be penalties for non-compliance with the rules.

For anyone who has reached their preservation age and is still working, there is now the ability to ease into retirement. 

Until recently, you could only access superannuation benefits if a ‘condition of release’ was met (i.e. turning 65, or retiring after attaining preservation age). This generally made it hard to reduce your working hours and maintain your standard of living. The introduction of a new ‘condition of release’ means it is possible for you to utilise some or all of your superannuation before you fully retire. You can make up for your reduced employment income with a regular income stream from your superannuation benefits. 

We can assist in structuring your funding  requirements so that they are consistent with your financial plan and optimised for your taxation situation. This can include strategies such as debt recycling to keep you on track over time and keep your borrowings efficient. We factor in affordability and cash flow, and also advise on the best financial structure for your financial situation.

Altus Financial is the nominated adviser on a number of Employer Corporate Superannuation Funds across both metropolitan and regional areas. It is our goal to assist both employers and employees garner the most out of the superannuation arrangement as possible.

We assist employees of our partner companies with increasing their engagement with their individual super accounts via structured education programmes and one on one sessions. The information we provide is general in nature with the hope that members will have sufficient knowledge to make proactive decisions about their future retirement savings.

An important part of our engagement is the Chairing of Policy Committees which ensures continued improvements to benefits and features for all members.