I have been involved in the Illawarra Business awards for quite a number of years now in various different capacities. We were an entrant and winner of an award in 2014 and again 2015. I have acted as a judge for several years in various categories and last year, we sponsored one of the categories.
Given that we have had such a big year, I thought it was time to jump back into the entry pool and have had a red hot go at these awards in 2022. Just recently, we were named finalist in three categories:

1. Excellence in Customer Service
2. Excellence in Small Business
3. Outstanding Business Leader 

The final winners will be announced at the gala dinner to be held at the WIN Entertainment Centre on 14 October 2022.
Best of luck to all the finalists, and we look forward to a great night!

We are opening a brand-new office!
In a very exciting move, we are about to open a brand-new office in Shellharbour (see map below). Jackie Zhou will be the owner of this new office which will be part of the Webb Financial network. The office is currently being professionally fit-out and will look amazing when completed.
Jackie joined us back in 2015 and has been one of our accounting managers for the past several years. Many of you will have interacted with Jackie and will know that she is a highly capable accountant with great technical skills.
Jackie was keen to make the leap into business ownership. We were keen to expand our geographical footprint, so it was a win-win arrangement.
We expect that this will be the first of a number of new Webb Financial offices you will see throughout NSW over the coming years as we slowly execute our plans for world domination.
Congratulations to Jackie in this exciting new chapter in her career!

Marcus Walsh joined us recently as a Senior Financial Planner and will be managing the financial planning side of our business going forward. Marcus comes to us with a great wealth of experience having previously maintained roles within large banks and small boutique planning businesses. As well as being a very knowledge and well qualified planner, Marcus is also quite adept at managing the business and brings a level of organisation and energy we have not had previously. We expect our financial planning business will thrive under Marcus’ control.
I am sure many of you will get a chance to meet Marcus in due course, and I am confident you will enjoy working with him.

We recently welcomed Sheila to our ever-expanding team. Sheila grew up in China and moved to Australia to complete her university studies in Sydney. After completing her studies, Sheila moved to Darwin and joined a mid-sized accounting firm where she worked with a variety of clients and developed a very well-rounded skill base.
Keen to move back closer to her Sydney based friends (and to enjoy a more civilised climate) Sheila made the move to Wollongong earlier this year.
Since joining us, Sheila has applied her fierce intellect and great energy toward her role. She is also a lot of fun and a pleasure to have in our office.

Those of you who have visited our office may have noticed our Facebook likes counter in reception. This counter is connected to our Facebook account and updates whenever someone new likes our page. Plenty of people have tested this while sitting in reception and the update is instantaneous.
Caroline gets very excited whenever the ticker updates so, for her sake, please like our page at the link below: https://www.facebook.com/webbaccounting

It is almost a cliché, though the best compliment we can receive is a positive recommendation. In that case, we receive a lot of compliments. Our online google reviews are currently sitting at 82 and we average several new reviews each week.
Th most pleasing thing about these reviews from my perspective, is how much they are shared amongst our team and how many different people within our office are recognised for their positive efforts and great client service.
If you have something nice to say, and would like to leave us a review, please follow the link below:
https://g.page/r/CZo5yT1mQTCOEB0/review

Late last year, I set myself a challenge to break a Guinness World Record and use this attempt to raise funds for my favourite charity, The Aspect South Coast School for children on the autism spectrum. The record I was attempting to break was for the most weight squat lifted in one hour, with the current record standing at 57,717kgs.
The original attempt was set down for April 2022, though I had a couple of setbacks. Firstly, I caught COVID-19 a week before the first attempt which didn’t make me terribly ill though really sapped my strength for several weeks. After postponing the event, I then suffered a very painful knee injury (this occurred at home and not in the gym) and tore the meniscus in my left knee. Knees are quite integral to a squat lifting challenge and this one really set me back. After several weeks of no lifting at all, I had to restart my training very steadily and gradually rebuild my strength.
I am pleased to say that after several months of quietly plugging away in the gym, I am feeling very strong once again. Just a few days ago, I lifted 42,000 kgs in one hour, and still had quite a bit left in the tank. I am now very close to announcing a new date for the official attempt, which should be a matter of weeks, and not months away.… so watch this space!
I am very grateful to those who have donated to this cause already, and so I have raised $21,954. Anyone who wishes to support me, please visit the link below:
https://www.initforautism.org.au/fundraisers/andrewwebb
I can guarantee that your donation will be going toward a most worthwhile recipient.

Interest rates have now risen 2.25% since May, one of the sharpest inclines of interest rates ever recorded. It almost seems like the announcement after every weather event- “Wettest day/month/year on record.
 
The RBA is trying to curb inflation (the price of good and services), by increasing interest rates they can cool demand as more Australians spend their dollars on repaying debt rather than shoes & trips to Byron Bay. The challenge is more complex in some areas and no more than energy prices which are hitting Europe more than any other region. This is largely driven because Russia has turned off the valuable Nord Steam Pipeline which sends natural gas to Europe. This is a supply issue which Australia isn’t immune too and unfortunately rising interest rates won’t curb.
The challenge for the RBA is the delayed impact from rising interest rates, CBA are predicting that the rising interest rates won’t be felt by Australians until Christmas. This means people are still spending, pushing up inflation and therefore putting more pressure on the RBA to further increase interest rates. I’m hopeful that they will allow the recent rises to take effect before pushing it too far. Monetary policy is currently in neutral setting, which means it is neither expansionary or contractionary. 
 
Predicting where interest rates will land is difficult, the major banks have recently updated their cash rate predictions to . Their cash rate in July is for rates to fall somewhere between 2.85%-3.35% which gives a retail rate of 4.85-5.35%+ for variable mortgages. The market is predicting much higher rates, closer to 4% which would leave retail interest rates around 6%.
Fixed rates are still (in general) much higher than that prediction, leading many banks to be advertising their recently reduced variable rates. The 4 year fixed term is one of the most competitive currently.
 
I’m still seeing many clients looking to invest & whilst there has been a marked downturn in credit growth since June there are lenders very much open for business.
 
If you’re concerned about interest rates or want to review your situation please don’t hesitate to contact me.