Australia Briefing

Ceasefire Shaken, Risks of Self-Managed Super, Westpac Earnings

Get caught up.
The Westpac Banking Corp. logo displayed outside the company’s headquarters in Sydney, Australia.Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Good morning. The fragile ceasefire in the Middle East began to crumble after the US and Iran exchanged fire in the Persian Gulf. The UAE was also targeted by Iranian drones and missiles. Back home, a growing fear around retirement is pushing people toward DIY investing, leading them to pile into crypto and other high-risk assets. Also, Japan’s prime minister dropped by to talk about defense and critical minerals. - Paul-Alain Hunt, Metals and Mining Reporter.

About 1.2 million Australians are managing a roughly A$1 trillion pool of retirement savings entirely by themselves. The rise in self managed super is being driven by an anxiety over their nest eggs, and its leading to some risky investments - including crypto.