Ron Bewley

Ron Bewley

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Ron Bewley, PhD, FASSA
Executive Director
Woodhall Investment Research

Ron was Professor of Econometrics at UNSW when he was invited to join the Commonwealth Bank to found a Quantitative Research & Investment Strategy team. After researching across most asset classes in global markets, risk and strategy, he was appointed as the foundation Chief Investment Officer in CBA’s Private Client Services. He retired from the bank in 2009 and formed Woodhall Investment Research the following year.

In his first book, Allocation Models, Ron presents a unified econometric approach for analysing relationships that allocate aggregates across their component parts – as in wealth being allocated across asset classes. He published over 50 academic papers on a variety of theoretical and applied econometric topics. He held a number of visiting academic positions in the US, UK and Europe. Ron was elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 1995. He was also consult to a number of major companies and government departments.

At Woodhall, Ron has combined his academic and markets experiences to produce cutting-edge solutions for implementing investment strategies in equities and other asset classes.

www.woodhall.com.au

Latest Commentary

How to make your money last a lifetime

by Ron Bewley

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Many people throughout their working lives take the default option of a balanced fund in accumulating their superannuation. However, a balanced fund alone when taking a pension during volatile times could erode your retirement savings significantly.

A balanced fund might be expected to return around 7% per annum, as assumed by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA). But, owing particularly to the equity component of the fund, returns may vary quite significantly from year to year. This volatility is not much of a problem if, over time, the fund is in line with average returns, particularly in the accumulation phase. But when it comes to taking a pension, the need to draw down on the dips can really curtail the life of the fund.

Expected returns

Over the past five years to September 2011, the median return on a super fund, as calculated by SuperRatings and published in the Sun Herald, was 0.92% per annum. The worst performing industry super fund returned -1.87% a year and the worst other fund, -2.78% a year over that time.

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