Body camera footage taken at the scene of the attack shows David DePape shortly before he lunged at Paul Pelosi with a hammer.
San Francisco District Attorney
David DePape is facing a 40-year sentence for his attack on Rep. Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul.
Prosecutors have included a terrorism enhancement in their sentencing request.
DePape was found guilty in November of assaulting Paul Pelosi and attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi.
David DePape is facing a possible 40-year sentence for his 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
In a sentencing memo filed Friday and reviewed by Business Insider, prosecutors requested a terrorism enhancement be added to DePape's sentence.
DePape still faces additional charges related to the attack, including attempted murder, that carry a potential sentence of 13 years to life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.
Paul Pelosi suffered two skull fractures that required surgery to fix after DePape struck him in the head with a hammer in October 2022.
The attack occurred after DePape broke into Pelosi's San Francisco home, seeking to kidnap then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and break her kneecaps to teach her that her "lies and corruption had a price," according to the memo.
DePape was found guilty of the attackin November after about eight hours of jury deliberation.His sentencing is set for May 17.
"The nature and circumstances of the offense warrant statutory maximums on each count," prosecutors argued in the sentencing memo. "The core of both crimes — the attempted kidnapping of a public official and the assault on the family member of a public official — is violence aimed at punishing the former Speaker of the House of Representatives. Both crimes are an assault on our democracy and fundamental values."
While it is unclear exactly how often a terrorism enhancement is added to criminal cases, research published by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism indicates prosecutors are about four times more likely to pursue the enhancement in international cases than they are in cases involving domestic extremists. Of the more than 1,200 people who have been charged in connection with the January 6 attack on the Capitol, only a handful had a terrorism enhancement applied to their case, the research notes.
Lawyers for DePape and the prosecutors in this case did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. A spokesperson for Rep. Pelosi also did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Analysts at Bell Potter think that this miner would be a great way to gain exposure to the lithium industry before it rebounds.
The broker currently has a buy rating and $9.50 price target on its shares. This implies potential upside of 32% for investors from current levels. It commented:
LTM provides the largest, most diversified exposure to lithium in terms of mode of upstream production, asset locations, downstream processing and customer markets. It is a key large-cap leverage to lithium prices and sentiment, which we expect to improve over the medium term. In supportive markets, LTM’s growth pipeline could see the company more than double production over the next three years.
Morgans is feeling very bullish about this travel agent giant. So much so, the broker has it on its best ideas list again this month.
Its analysts have an add rating and $27.27 price target on the company’s shares. This implies potential upside of almost 34% for investors over the next 12 months. It commented:
FLT has the greatest risk, reward profile of our travel stocks under coverage. The risk is centred around execution given its changed business model, while the reward is material if FLT delivers on its 2% margin target. If achieved, this would result in material upside to consensus estimates and valuations. FLT is targeting to achieve this margin in FY25. With greater confidence in the travel recovery and the benefits of Flight Centre’s transformed business model already emerging, we think the company is well placed over coming years.
Analysts at Morgans are also feeling very positive about this payments company and sees significant value in its shares at current levels. Particularly given its belief that its performance will rebound this year. The broker has an add rating and $1.50 price target on its shares, which suggests potential upside of over 60% for investors. It said:
TYR sold off heavily in 2023 affected by the broad pull back in technology stocks and overall concerns regarding its earnings trajectory. However, we believe FY24 will show significantly improved business momentum, importantly driven by a much greater focus on lifting overall profitability. TYR still trades at a significant discount to valuation.
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Trump has been rebuked by three Manhattan judges for his attacks on, from left, law clerk Allison Greenfield, Stormy Daniels, and E. Jean Carroll.
Left, Jefferson Siegel/Getty Images; center, Ethan Miller/Getty Images; right, Gotham/WireImage.
Since October, Donald Trump has attended — as a defendant — three Manhattan trials.
During these trials, judges have repeatedly threatened him with jail or removal from the courtroom.
His 4 worst judicial rebukes were all prompted by his attacks on women connected to his cases.
Since last fall, Donald Trump has sat at the defense tables of three Manhattan courtrooms. But Trump has shown less-than-ideal table manners.
During all three trials, Trump's judges have been so angered by his outbursts that they threatened to fine him, to remove him from the courtroom, and even to throw him in jail.
Trump earned the worst of these judicial rebukes in the same way, by attacking people connected to his trials in statements he made inside or, in one case, just outside, the courtroom.
Trump's top targets — the people who triggered his four most severe reprimands from the bench — differ widely from each other. They include a law clerk, an advice columnist, a high-school teacher, and a porn star. But they share much in common.
Each made Trump look bad in front of an international trial press corps. Each so riled Trump that he lashed out at them despite the known risk of consequences.
A lawyer for Trump did not immediately return a request for comment on this story.
"This is his modus operandi," Walsh added.
Trump's top four rebukes
In Donald Trump's New York civil fraud trial, he has cast the judge's top clerk, Allison Greenfield, as one of his many political enemies.i
Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images; David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
Allison Greenfield was the principal law clerk at Trump's civil fraud trial.
Trump attacked her so persistently last October, including in the hallway outside court, that the judge called Trump up to the witness stand, grilled him about it on the record, then fined him $10,000.
It was a "blatant, dangerous, disobeyal of a judicial order," state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron said of Trump targeting his law clerk during a hallway press gaggle.
Trump risked jail had he continued to attack the clerk, who'd been vocal in reining in defense lawyers during pre-trial hearings.
Greenfield declined to comment on this story.
E. Jean Carroll
Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll.
REUTERS/Andrew Kelly; Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
We turn next to E. Jean Carroll, the advice columnist who won more than $90 million in judgments from Trump when he was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming her.
At a federal civil trial in January, Judge Lewis Kaplan threatened to kick Trump out of the courtroom after he repeatedly — and audibly — heckled Carroll as she accused him of defamation during her testimony.
"You just can't control yourself in this circumstance, apparently," the federal judge chided Trump.
Carroll declined to comment on this story through her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge.
Cowbells herald a third Trump outburst
Donald Trump at his criminal hush-money trial with lawyers Todd Blanche, left, and Emil Bove.
Jabin Botsford-Pool/Getty Images
Fast forward to Trump's hush-money trial, where prosecutors predict they'll wrap their fourth and final week of witness testimony next week, with star witness Michael Cohen set to testify Monday.
Trump is accused of falsifying 34 invoices, checks, and ledger entries in 2017. The cooked books hid a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniel and illegally influenced the 2016 election, prosecutors allege.
As a criminal defendant, Trump has no choice but to attend this trial. He made his displeasure apparent out of the gate, during jury selection in mid-April.
One prospective juror, a middle-aged high-school teacher, was questioned about videos she had posted online showing people dancing in the streets of her Manhattan neighborhood after Joe Biden's election in 2020.
"It seemed like a celebratory moment in New York City," the school teacher told the judge of uploading the footage to her Facebook account.
Trump lost his cool as he was forced to watch the clips, which included at least one person clanging a cowbell, merrily sounding the death knell for his hopes of reelection.
"He was gesturing and muttering something. He was audible. He was speaking in the direction of the juror. I will not tolerate that," state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan complained of Trump to defense lawyer Todd Blanche, his voice raised.
"I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make that crystal clear," the judge added.
The woman, whose name was not revealed, was not selected for the jury.
Then there was Stormy Daniels
A courtroom sketch of Stormy Daniels on the witness stand in Donald Trump's hush-money trial.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
Trump's most recent severe judicial rebuke came this week, when he began heckling Daniels as she testified against him on Tuesday.
Daniels had just finished telling jurors about playfully swatting Trump "in the butt" with a rolled-up magazine — and about his fascination with the porn business.
"Do you all hate each other?" she testified Trump asked her, describing a two-hour chat in his hotel suite during a 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.
"Do you sleep with each other off camera?" she said Trump asked.
Daniels had yet to even bring up her raciest allegations when Merchan called the defense lawyers up to the bench, and, in the presence of prosecutors, let Trump have it.
"I understand that your client is upset at this point, but he is cursing audibly, and he is shaking his head visually, and that's contemptuous," the judge told Trump's lawyers during a break in Daniels' testimony.
"It has the potential to intimidate the witness, and the jury can see that," the judge warned.
"You need to speak to him," he told the defense team. "I won't tolerate that."
"One time I noticed when Ms. Daniels was testifying about rolling up the magazine, and presumably smacking your client, and after that point he shook his head and he looked down," the judge said.
"And later, I think he was looking at you, Mr. Blanche, later when we were talking about The Apprentice, at that point he again uttered a vulgarity."
Defense lawyer Susan Necheles questions Stormy Daniels as Donald Trump and Judge Juan Merchan look on.
Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
Why women?
What is it about the thought of a woman publicly opposing him that makes Trump so unable — or unwilling — to restrain himself that he risks getting thrown out of court or thrown into jail?
Does he helplessly lose his temper? Does he lash out intentionally, perhaps thinking it can't hurt his poll numbers, even among women?
Walsh, from the Center for American Women and Politics, thinks the latter's more likely.
"He prides himself on being a strong, macho guy," she said.
"Listen, we know he defended himself for the Access Hollywood tape by saying it was locker-room talk, and boys will be boys," she said.
''But he really walks around thinking that he can grab women because he is who he is," she said.
Michael Cohen, center, is surrounded by reporters as he arrives for grand jury testimony on March 15, 2023, in New York.
Trump is barred under an April 1 gag order from making statements attacking jurors, witnesses, and certain trial and prosecution staffers or their families.
But despite fining Trump a total of $10,000 for violating this gag, Merchan has noted that Cohen, who gives as good as he gets, is the one witness least in need of the order's protection.
"As recently as, I believe, Wednesday night, he was on TikTok," Blanche, the defense lawyer, complained to Merchan before court broke for the week on Friday.
"He was wearing a white T-shirt with a picture of President Trump behind bars, wearing an orange jumpsuit, and discussing about how he's now announcing he's running for Congress," the defense lawyer complained.
"He has stated on social media that he's going to stop talking a couple of different times, and he doesn't," Blanche complained.
Agreeing that Cohen needed to be reined in, Merchan ordered prosecutors to instruct him yet again to stop making public statements about Trump and the case.
"Does he go after men, yes," Walsh said of Trump.
"But women hold a special place for him. He clearly feels entitled to exert this kind of power of intimidating and bullying over women," she said.
"He is in some ways like a petulant teenager. He doesn't even understand or respect — 'hey, I'm in court.'"
Trump may well be playing to his base, "those MAGA men and even some of the MAGA women," Walsh said.
"He is sort of the defender in their minds of white men who are in charge and don't take guff from anybody," she added.
"It's hard to explain the women who are supportive of this kind of behavior, but there are women who will never leave him."
Fortunately for Australian income investors, there are a lot of dividend-payers to choose from on the Australian share market.
To narrow things down, I have picked out four ASX dividend shares that brokers are bullish on right now. Here’s what sort of yields they are forecasting from them:
The first ASX dividend share that could be a buy is Australia’s largest rail freight operator, Aurizon.
The team at Ord Minnett is bullish on the company and has an accumulate rating and $4.70 price target on its shares.
As for dividends, its analysts are forecasting partially franked dividends of 17.8 cents per share in FY 2024 and then 24.3 cents per share in FY 2025. Based on the latest Aurizon share price of $3.81, this will mean dividend yields of 4.7% and 6.4%, respectively.
Mining giant BHP could be another ASX dividend share to buy according to analysts at Goldman Sachs.
The broker thinks its shares are good value at current levels and is expecting some attractive yields in the near term.
It is forecasting fully franked dividends of US$1.42 (A$2.14) per share in FY 2024 and then US$1.26 (A$1.90) per share in FY 2025. Based on the current BHP share price of $42.91, this equates to dividend yields of 5% and 4.4%, respectively.
Goldman currently has a buy rating and $49.00 price target on the miner’s shares.
Another ASX dividend share that could be a buy is HomeCo Daily Needs. It is a neighbourhood retail and large format retail focused property company.
Morgans likes the company. This is due to its resilient cashflows and its belief that HomeCo Daily Needs will be a beneficiary of accelerating click and collect trends.
In respect to income, Morgans expects dividends per share of 8 cents in FY 2024 and then 9 cents in FY 2025. Based on the current HomeCo Daily Needs share price of $1.25, this will mean yields of 6.4% and 7.2%, respectively.
The broker has an add rating and $1.37 price target on the
A final ASX dividend share that could be a buy is IPH. It is an intellectual property solutions company with operations across the world.
Goldman Sachs thinks its shares are good value at current levels, particularly given the company’s defensive qualities and organic growth potential.
The broker expects this to support the payment of fully franked dividends per share of 34 cents in FY 2024 and 37 cents in FY 2025. Based on the current IPH share price of $5.82, this represents yields of 5.8% and 6.35%, respectively.
Goldman has a buy rating and $8.70 price target on its shares.
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Aurizon, HomeCo Daily Needs REIT, and IPH. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
Just because the market may be trading within sight of a record high doesn’t mean there aren’t any cheap ASX shares out there for value investors to buy.
For example, the three listed below have been named as buys and described as cheap by analysts. Here’s what you need to know about them:
This poultry company could be undervalued according to analysts at Morgans. Particularly given its market leadership and low price to earnings multiple. It recently said:
ING remains undervalued trading on a low PE multiple, especially for what is a market leader, with a vertically integrated operating model and assets that are difficult and costly to replicate. It is also leveraged to poultry â the affordable, healthy, sustainable and growth protein. Additionally, ING offers an attractive fully franked dividend yield.
Morgans has an add rating and $4.40 price target on its shares. The broker also expects 5.5%+ fully franked dividend yields from its shares in the coming years.
Another ASX share that could be cheap is Rural Funds. That’s the view of analysts at Bell Potter. They believe the market is undervaluing the rural property company’s shares given their significant discount to net asset value (NAV). The broker explains:
RFF continues to trade at a material 26% discount to 1H24 reported NAV and 35% discount to 1H24 market NAV, with the disconnect between private and public asset values at historically high levels. In the near term disposing of assets at or around market value is a positive catalyst for NAV confirmation and debt reduction, while recovering commodity values benefits farm related earnings and counterparty profitability.
Bell Potter has a buy rating and $2.40 price target on its shares. It also expects dividend yields of approximately 5.8% in FY 2024 and FY 2025.
Finally, Goldman Sachs thinks Woolworths is a cheap ASX share to buy following recent share price weakness. The broker highlights that the supermarket giant’s shares are trading on multiples materially lower than recent averages. This is despite having a positive outlook. It explains:
We forecast WOW 2-yr sales CAGR FY24-26e of +3.2% and EBIT growth of +4.8%. The stock is trading at FY24E P/E of 20x vs 2-yr EPS CAGR of 6% and against an average of 26x since 2018.
Goldman currently has a buy rating and $39.40 price target on its shares. It also expects 3.4%+ dividend yields in the coming years.
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The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) stock price has suffered a 15% fall this year, as the chart below shows. Is it time to dig into the ASX mining share? I’ll give my view on the business.
What’s going on with the BHP share price?
I think three main dynamics are at play with the recent BHP share price movements â the takeover play for Anglo American, changing commodity prices and costly write-offs.
Before the FY24 first-half result, BHP reported it was going to recognise impairment charges amounting to US$6.6 billion (pre-tax) relating to its nickel mining in Australia and the Samarco disaster in Brazil.
According to Trading Economics, the key commodity iron ore has declined from US$140 per tonne at the start of the year to around US$117 per tonne.
BHP launched an audacious bid for Anglo American, with an all-share offer for the UK-listed miner. While that business owns good copper assets, with a quality iron ore segment, it also comes with several other assets that BHP doesn’t want (eg, Anglo Platinum and Kumba), which complicates the deal.
Anglo American has already rejected the initial offer, so BHP would need to up the bid to gain interest.
Are there positives for the ASX mining share?
The BHP stock price is close to its 2024 low and 52-week low, yet conditions seem to be improving for the business.
The iron ore price has bounced upwards from around US$100 per tonne at the start of April 2024 to US$117 now â it’s going in the right direction. That is boosting BHP’s potential profitability, which is usually what investors focus on.
Copper prices are near a two-year high of around US$4.7 per pound, which is good for BHP. According to Trading Economics:
Official trade data from China showed that imports of copper ore jumped by 11.8% from the previous year to 2.35 million tonnes in April, indicating that the world’s top producer of refined copper continued to take in large volumes of inputs despite the sharp increase in prices.
The figures were in line with the pickup in factory activity indicated by the country’s PMIs during the period.
My 2 cents on the BHP stock price
The BHP share price is still almost 20% higher than its 2022 low, so it’s not as cheap as it has been. But, with the increasing copper and iron ore prices, the company’s profitability is more compelling.
The Samarco costs are large and necessary but are proposed to be payable over more than a decade.
I think the company’s focus on decarbonisation commodities like potash and copper is a good move. Diversifying profit away from just selling iron ore to China is also good.
Because of the above issues, the dividend payments may be smaller in the short term, so I’d be in no rush to buy it for dividends.
I have a goal of trying to beat the market, so I don’t think it’s cheap enough yet to invest. However, if the BHP stock price did fall — say to below $40 — then that could be the right time to pounce.
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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
Google DeepMind is Google's AI research division focused on building artificial general intelligence, also known as AGI.
Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
DeepMind is Google's AI research hub focused on building artificial general intelligence.
DeepMind has been applied to real-world problems in healthcare, science, and engineering.
DeepMind has a number of competitors, including OpenAI, though Google's model is for profit.
In the last few years, artificial intelligence has stepped out of the pages of science fiction and into everyday life.
Today, we're surrounded by AI systems like Gemini, ChatGPT, Dall-E, CoPilot, and countless others, but Google DeepMind is somewhat different.
Launched back in 2010, DeepMind is a company with the goal of developing an artificial general intelligence, often referred to as AGI.
What does Google's DeepMind do?
While many AI systems in use today are very good at completing specific kinds of tasks for which they were trained, the goal of AGI is to build a human-like intelligence that can learn, reason, and problem-solve a wide range of topics and tasks across a plethora of domains.
In other words, it's designed to mimic human intelligence.
This is different from systems like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, which are narrow AI systems that are very good at the specific task of understanding natural language well enough to deliver useful information through human-like interactions.
Of course, DeepMind has not yet achieved AGI, but has made impressive achievements nonetheless. In practice, DeepMind has been applied to solving real-world problems in healthcare, science and engineering. It's perhaps most famous, though, for its mastery of enormously challenging games.
In 2015, for example, DeepMind's AlphaGo became the first computer program to ever defeat a human opponent at Go (a game considered far more complex than chess). Less than two years later, AlphaGo went on to defeat the top-ranked Go player in the world.
Who runs Google's DeepMind?
Demis Hassabis is the CEO of Google DeepMind.
Getty Images
DeepMind was created in 2010 by a trio of computer engineers from the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College London, and early research focused on getting AI systems to learn to play games without any instruction — the software would learn games like Breakout, Pong and Space Invaders through trial and error, eventually mastering the rules and becoming an expert at the games.
Google acquired DeepMind in 2014 for a price somewhere between $400 million and $650 million. Today, the company remains a part of Google's Alphabet portfolio of businesses where Demis Hassabis, one of DeepMinds three original founders, continues to lead the development of AGI as CEO.
In April 2023, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that Google would merge DeepMind with the Brain team from Google Research to create a single AI unit — named Google DeepMind — to "help us build more capable systems more safely and responsibly."
Google DeepMind remains based in London primarily, but also has researchers in Montreal, Canada, and at the Googleplex corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California.
What's the difference between DeepMind and OpenAI?
Of course, DeepMind is hardly alone in its AI research and development; it has a number of competitors, including the headline-making OpenAI.
These two companies take a very different approach to AI development, though. DeepMind is a for-profit part of Google's Alphabet, Inc., for example, while OpenAI was originally established as a non-profit, before transitioning to a "capped-profit" model.
The two companies have developed AI models and applications in ways that have contributed to AI research in sometimes complementary ways. While DeepMind mastered Go with AlphaGo, for example, OpenAI developed Generative Pre-trained Transformer language models (for example, ChatGPT) that allow machines to better understand natural language, for more interactive and immersive experiences.
Do you need a PhD to work at DeepMind?
Given the deep complexity of what DeepMind is developing, one might assume that prospective employees might all require a PhD. In reality, though, that's not true. Google hires a large number of researchers and computer engineers with lesser degrees to help advance the state of the art in artificial intelligence.
So many, in fact, that they outnumber the amount of traditional rentals tagged for development over the same time.
More than 50% of total condos in the pre-construction phase across Miami-Dade County and nearby Broward County, totaling 10,335 units, are geared toward short-term rentals, a first-quarter report from real-estate firm ISG World found.
These units may not be exclusively advertised for short-term stays, CEO of ISG World Craig Studnicky told Business Insider but were grouped by little to no rental restrictions for future owners.
That means these units could, and very likely may, be used for Airbnb and similar purposes, Studnicky explained.
"We've had a development industry that is adding more short-term rentals to South Florida inventory," Studnicky told BI. "And that's not what we need."
Florida has continued to experience a major population boom and was the fastest-growing state between 2021 and 2022, with 417,000 new residents. Housing prices, in tandem, skyrocketed. The median sales price for a home in Miami hit $600,000 in March 2024, nearly double the median price of $335,000 in March 2020, according to Redfin.
It's rocked affordability in Miami, where there is currently a $1.5 billion gap to provide adequate, affordable housing for the entirety of Miami-Dade County, according to a study by the nonprofit Miami Homes for All. Altogether, the county is missing over 90,000 affordable units for renters making less than $75,000 a year, the study concluded.
Developers in the Miami region should focus on creating more traditional rentals to alleviate pressure in the market, Studnicky believes.
The ISG World report states more than 10,000 traditional rental units for Miami-Dade and Broward counties are scheduled in pre-construction, a process that will take many years to complete. In the past 10 years, Studnicky estimates a much more robust 20,000 traditional rental units were built in Miami.
"That's the number that we need just to accommodate the population gains," he told Business Insider.
Baby Boomers and Gen X Australians both consider superannuation and property as the top investment options for lifetime wealth-building, according to a survey by financial advisory company Findex.
The survey showed that 40% of Baby Boomers and 29% of Gen X rated superannuation as their no. 1 investment option.
Property also scored highly, with 37% of Boomers and 28% of Gen Xers rating it their preferred investment asset class.
Varying approaches to retirement savings
While both age cohorts valued superannuation highly, Findex investment relations head Matthew Swieconek said they typically took different approaches to growing their retirement savings.
Swieconek said Baby Boomers often had a more passive approach.
Having benefited from a strong jobs market and the longest access to compulsory superannuation contributions, they “may prioritise capital preservation and income generation in their investment choices”, Swieconek said.
Generation Xmight feel less confident about their retirement security whilst juggling higher living costs, stagnant long-term wages growth and large mortgage repayments due to higher interest rates.
“They may be more risk-averse and seek a balance between growth and stability in their super investments,” he said.
Let’s talk superannuation
The Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1965, and Gen X was born between 1966 and 1980.
Superannuation was introduced in Australia in 1992. Most superannuation funds are primarily invested in ASX shares and international equities.
Younger Australians may choose to invest in more aggressive ‘growth’ super funds to maximise their earnings. With a longer runway to retirement, they can tolerate higher risk for higher rewards.
In 2023, Chant West figures showed the standard growth superannuation fund (61% to 80% growth assets like ASX shares), returned a median 9.9%. ‘High growth’ funds (81% to 95% growth assets) returned 11.4%.
Baby Boomers may switch from growth to ‘balanced’ or ‘conservative’ funds to preserve more of their capital. According to Chant West, the standard ‘balanced’ superannuation fund (41% to 60% growth assets) returned 8.1% in 2023, and conservative funds returned 6.2%.
Key actions to ensure a secure retirement
Findex recommends the following key investment actions for Baby Boomers and Gen X Australians to take now to ensure an excellent retirement down the track.
Baby Boomersâ¯
Findex recommends the following five actions for Baby Boomers to retire well:
Pre-retirement super boost: Maximize your superannuation balance before retirement by utilising catch-up contributions and considering strategies like downsizing contributions.â¯Â
Legislative changes: Stay informed about changes in superannuation and retirement income policy to adjust your strategy accordingly.â¯Â
Retirement income planning: Engage with a financial advisor to develop a sustainable retirement income strategy, considering the transition to retirement pensions or annuities.
Prepare the next generation: Consider introducing your kids to a trusted financial advisor to help make financial advice more affordable and accessible for them.
Legacy planning: Focus on estate planning and how your superannuation benefits will be managed and distributed.â¯Â
Gen X
Findex recommends the following actions for Gen Xers to retire well:
Maximising superannuation contributions: Enhancing both concessional and non-concessional super contributions can be a great way to build retirement savings toward the peak earning years.â¯Â
Review your super investments: Seek advice to refine your superannuation strategy, focusing on investment selection within super, tax planning, and retirement income streams.â¯Â
Healthcare and insurance: Review your insurance needs within superannuation to ensure adequate coverage, as health concerns may become more prominent.â¯Â
Consider borrowing to invest: Known as gearing, borrowing money to invest can help boost your portfolio. However, due to its high-risk nature, talk to a financial advisor to ensure this is right for you.
Estate planning: Start planning for your wealth transfer to ensure your super and other assets are distributed according to your wishes.â¯Â
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When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for over ten years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*
Scott just revealed what he believes could be the ‘five best ASX stocks’ for investors to buy right now. We believe these stocks are trading at attractive prices and Scott thinks they could be great buys right now…
Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
The business is not exactly a household name. It has a huge gas pipeline across the country which transports half of the country’s usage. APA owns gas storage, processing and gas-powered energy generation facilities. The business also owns electricity transmission, solar and wind assets.
There are a few compelling reasons why the ASX dividend share could be a compelling high-yield investment.
Appealing dividend yield and track record
The APA share price has declined by 16% in the last year, as we can see on the chart below.
APA already had a solid dividend yield before the drop and it has been boosted by having a cheaper valuation. For example, if a business has a 6% dividend yield and then the share price falls 10%, the yield becomes 6.6%.
The energy infrastructure giant has guided its distribution is expected to be 56 cents per security in FY24, which translates into a dividend yield of 6.4%.
APA has grown its distribution every year for the past 20 years, which is one of the best consecutive payout growth streaks on the ASX.
The estimate on Commsec suggests the business could grow its distribution to 57.5 cents per security in FY25, which would be a distribution yield of 6.6%.
Investing for growth
The ASX dividend share is benefiting from the fact that it has stable and growing revenue. Over 90% of its revenue is linked to inflation, which has obviously been elevated in recent years.
But it’s not just sitting there with its existing assets. The distributions to investors are paid from cash flow, which is steadily growing as more of its projects are finished and become operational. It has a distribution payout target of 60% to 70% of free cash flow.
In the recent Macquarie Australia Conference, the business said it had a “strong pipeline” of growth opportunities between FY24 to FY26, totalling more than $1.8 billion.
Increasing energy demands
I’m not exactly sure how Australia’s energy situation is going to evolve in the coming decades, but Labor recently said that gas will be part of the picture in 2050 and potentially beyond.
As a major pipeline owner, the ASX dividend share has an important role in the future of gas in the country. But it’s investing in other areas too, including a growing portfolio of renewable energy generation and electricity transmission assets. APA is also investigating the potential for pipelines to carry hydrogen, though that’s not a core part of the thesis for me.
Australia’s energy demands are growing, with data centres expected to be a major contributor to that. This could be another help for overall energy demand.
I’m not expecting explosive growth for APA, but the business could continue to play an important part in Australia’s energy mix, enabling ongoing shareholder payouts.
Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Apa Group wasn’t one of them.
The online investing service heâs run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*
And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…
Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Apa Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
