I have long thought about net worth and who really accumulates extreme wealth. Whilst names like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg easily spring to mind, but what about people who generate enough wealth to be comfortable?

With property prices rising, homeowners are generating wealth at a steady rate and people are accumulating this wealth predominately through real estate investment. Australia had 234,000 high net worth individuals in 2015, that is one million dollars USD in investable assets not including the primary residence or possessions.

Although individuals are not generating income through their primary residence; yet rising property prices are increasing their net wealth. But if the primary residence is not included in the calculation then the valuation becomes a whole lot harder. A modest home may indicate a degree of frugally freeing up capital for investment.

Likewise, an owned property may have a loan as collateral for investment but the whole net worth calculation then becomes clouded. Loaning capital against the family home for investment is fraught with danger, any decline in that investment may require the loan to be called in, margin calls are ugly. If these individuals have any investments in fixed interest, cash, bonds or equities then they have potential for both capital growth and investment income – this is a start.

The issues surrounding training revolve around the rigidness of classroom training delivery and the passive dissemination of information from lecturer to student. As such, student reactions against poorly planned and misguided training programs undermines training effectiveness and return on investment. Trainees require top quality learning materials, they need to reinforce learning through class discussion and feedback.  

The issue is not training, indeed training should be increased to achieve sustainable productivity transformation. The issue is the quality of training and how learning is embedded in the workplace as training and development are primarily targeted towards workplace outcomes. When training is the focus and not learning, the return on investment will not be aligned to strategic goals with the negative connotations of training reinforced. Classroom training tends to fall into the one size fits all the difficulty with classroom training is the ability to apply newly learned knowledge and skills in the workplace.

To embed training, the skills need to be immediately utilised in the workplace before they are forgotten, learning objectives are not met, managers who are not convinced of the merits of training then have a reason to sabotage its implementation with the resulting resistance to training embedded in the organisation. The follow-up skills practice in the workplace is missed and personal mastery is not achieved. This isn’t to say training is bad, what is required is targeted development that reinforces the learning event that is immediately implemented in the workplace. As such, on-the-job training is the preferred delivery method for majority of the skills after the initial learning event.  

Hugo Just Different is a fragrance introduced by Hugo Boss in 2011; this fragrance is a new take on one of Hugo Boss’ most popular men’s fragrance, Hugo introduced in 1995. The fragrance is vibrant, modern with a cool twist and according to the advertising brief made to “inspire whatever you do”.

The notes tell me ice cold mint leaves open the composition and lead to the heart of freesia and basil. The base is composed of Cashmeran® molecule of musk followed up with a woody and spicy scent in the end notes – this is more than just a pretty good fragrance. I no longer use Just Different as my daily cologne, I still use Hugo Boss but have reverted back to Hugo.

As a dive instructor or divemaster working as a deckhand on charter vessels, I wonder why the skipper must be certified, the dive instructor certified, the divemaster certified, the divers certified or at least under direct instruction of a certified instructor, yet the deckhand doesn’t require any certification at all. Whilst a deckhand needs to gain experience working on a boat, there should be a training obligation for deckhands.

The greatest ability of the working divemaster/deckhand is to log seatime for future commercial qualifications whilst gaining valuable experience. Now, such qualifications differ from region to region, likewise, logging sea-time on lakes and sheltered waters is enormously different from sea-time under adverse conditions but it is a start. At the very least, the deckhand should be required to log sea time and meet some internal training requirements, the very least, they should be logging commercial experience on a working boat.

Using untrained and inexperienced staff has been the norm with informal training sometimes leading to experienced staff. I would prefer traineeships where an unqualified deckhand works under the direct supervision of the skipper. This is pretty much what happens now to a certain degree with the exception of the deckhand being qualified, the industry has resisted qualifications for deckhands and this industry norm should be reconsidered.

Boracay’s White Beach is world renowned as one of the top beaches in South East Asia, this acclaim is thoroughly deserved and the opportunity to stay at a beach resort shouldn’t be overlooked. Having stayed on the island of Boracay a number of times previously, a different option became available and I jumped at the chance to stay away from the hustle of White Beach.

I prefer quiet places to stay and Hangin Kite right on Bulabog Beach was too good an opportunity to decline. Bulabog Beach is totally different to its more famous counterpart White Beach, instead of the pure and beautiful white sand, seaweed is washed up on the beach. This is no issue for me living on the west coast of Australia as the near constant wind and pristine kelp beds ensure a healthy coastal environment. For me, seaweed indicates a diverse and healthy marine environment, this supports a complex eco-system leading to the overall health of the marine environment.

For others, they are seeking pristine white beaches, coconut trees and possible a pina colada on a deck chair. That’s fine, it is just not what I am seeking in a beachside setting as coconut trees have a tendency to drop coconuts from a great height on unsuspecting sun worshipers. Besides, I live 10 minutes drive from one on Perth’s premier beaches and there is no way I would even spend a day at the beach, we generally headed down for an hour or at the most two – no longer.

What Bulabog Beach offers apart from seaweed, yes, they do have coconut trees right on the beach is a strong and steady wind. Whilst this is often seen as undesirable for the majority of beach goers, this is exactly what attracts kite surfers to Bulabog Beach. Forget about stunning sunsets, Bulabog Beach is facing the wrong direction; fortunately, these two beaches are located in the narrow section of the island and a ten minute walk will land you right on White Beach.

At the beginning of my MBA journey I decided to document my progress and reflect on where I started, where I am now and where I am hopefully headed. Taking on an MBA in a more advanced stage of life is not without its drawbacks. The average MBA candidate age group in the top schools is around the 28 to 32 age bracket with at least three years of work experience. I just turned 48 and began fulltime work in 1985 after just turning sixteen a couple of weeks before. At least I have workplace experiences I can draw upon.

Starting a technical trade apprenticeship when I should still have been in high school was difficult in some respects, I made so many fundamental mistakes owing to my lack of life experiences and the tradesmen I worked with who were all very much older than me – they were very unforgiving. This however shaped my outlook and I do not suffer fools lightly. I do spend plenty of time developing training strategies so that current apprentices do not have to go through what I experienced.

So I decided to select Integrated Project Management, this unit seeks to develop the skills to coordinate projects. This unit is based on a case study applying PMBoK processes to update project plans that are impacted by change management forces. Evaluation environmental factors are applied with effective management strategies formulated to manage stakeholder relationships via multiple communication media. I think I am going to enjoy this final unit and the challenges presented, I am looking forward to this learning program.

There is no doubt Margaret Court was one of the great tennis players of her era after retiring from tennis in 1977 with 24 Grand Slam singles titles to her name. Margaret’s first Gland Slam title win was in 1960 after turning professional that year.

Margaret has a fairly impressive tennis CV, she was the first woman to win all four grand slams in a calendar year in 1970 during the open era, she also won 19 Grand Slam doubles titles and 21 mixed doubles titles. To keep things in perspective, Serena Williams currently sits on 23 Grand Slam titles and even at age 35 has the potential to overtake Margaret in the future. Steffie Graf who retired in 1999 with 22 Grand Slam titles sits third on the all time list.

What we also know about Margaret Court is that she speaks her mind, I don’t necessarily agree with her views but I do respect her right to an opinion. So Martina Navratilova with 18 single titles and a bunch of current tennis players are calling for Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena to be renamed because they don’t like what she has to say – come on, get real.

I only hope the management of Margaret Court Arena have the backbone to stand up to this impingement of free speech. Whilst I don’t agree with Margaret on this issue; I totally disagree with the over-reaction and the threats to boycott the arena calling for it to be renamed. Snap out of your collective self importance and just get on with your privileged lives on the professional tennis circuit.

Only last week did I find out that my employer (who will forever remain anonymous) is reading my blog. Welcome aboard guys, I hope you find Observations in an undemocratic world an enriching journey exploring my interpretation of the world.

I cover an array of topics including business, management, travel, scuba diving, training & development, politics, the effect of the media on popular opinion, luxury goods, prestige watches, wine appreciation, workplace bullying, my MBA experiences, finance, economics, yachting, cricket, Australian Rules Football, aviation, naval power, corruption, social issues and so much more. Don’t fret, this isn’t all about you but my observations, especially on management and business topics are based on the case study method as espoused in MBA education.

Future posts seek to cover more horology, the scuba diving industry, contemporary management issues, strategy, human resources, finance, leadership, good food and wine. I think I might revisit corruption, workplace bullying, the abuse of power, tertiary education, training issues and of course more management failures based on personal observations from an MBA candidate seeking to eradicate workplace bullying and corruption in the workplace.

Apparently my employer (who will remain anonymous) previously “had neither the time nor the need to meet with me” to discuss the intentional breach of an industrial award registered in the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission, but we had the time to discuss my social media profile. I can use that particular sentence because I have that in writing, much to the embarrassment to others in the organisation when I brought that to their attention.

So once again, welcome aboard, I hope your enjoy reading my blog – feel free to leave some constructive feedback in the comments section and the end of each individual post. So no need to worry, I won’t be exposing the identity of my employer on Observations in an undemocratic world and I will seek to maintain the integrity of the organisation as I very much believe in the mission of both the organisation and the sector.

But always keep in mind, this is a public funded organisation and not a private company. I have a duty to report corruption and as a whistleblower I am protected under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 as long as I am not making malicious accusations instead trying to constructively increase participation in this immensely important facet of workforce development.

I was reading a Bloomberg article in regards to the Chinese wealth management industry – I was really quite surprised. Based on what was reported, the average investor is not conversant with the actual details of their portfolios but that would be reasonably normal with the majority of generalised wealth management products. What I found interesting was the large holdings of bonds, usually seen as a fairly defensive investment. More so, the second largest asset class of cash and bank deposits is very high along with money market investments. Whilst not specified, the non-standard credit assets would include property, possibly venture capital, derivatives and forex.

Not that Australians fare any better, the average default superannuation asset allocation although widely reported remains a mystery to the holders of default superannuation funds. However, what is interesting is that the average Australian default superannuation fund asset allocation varies widely as compared to the average Chinese asset allocation. Most Australian superannuation funds are heavy-weight in equities with just over half of the fund consisting of equities with a slightly higher international share allocation in the 24% to 30% range. Domestic Australian equities tend to sit in the 20% to 25% range with both international and domestic equities comprising of more than half of the fund – that’s pretty aggressive.

Bonds and cash are seen as defensive investments along with property, the other section comprises of venture capital, infrastructure, derivatives such as put and call options, warrants, futures and currency hedges. Whilst Bloomberg appears to be worried about the asset allocation in Chinese wealth management funds, the investments are relatively defensive as compared to Australian wealth management products. The real issue is the sheer size of the Chinese wealth management funds as compared to the capitalisation of the Australian counterparts, if domestic Chinese economic conditions change – that’s a real issue for world markets.

The Goo Goo Dolls have been around for a long time now, yet I have never seen them in concert – for me, this is a real shame. They are a fantastic indie band with a loyal following, they have plenty of recognisable songs on the radio – yet the average listener usually can’t identify the band. I viewed their Live in Buffalo outdoor concert on the 4th of July in near torrential rain, they performed well in the conditions – they were highly impressive in their home town.

I tend to enjoy their anonymity, I am not employed to market the band so it matters little to me if they are popular or not. While my attitude may be somewhat disproportionate to my level of support for the band; I would love to see them live, that is something that has alluded me. I know they tour in the United States, I am unaware if they have ever toured Australia and even if they have, Western Australia is routinely left off many touring artist’s itinerary.

They have released a number of albums, my favourite was Dizzy up the Girl, a real breakthrough album gaining critical acclaim. The song Iris featured on the album becoming the lead song as soundtrack for the City of Angels motion picture staring Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan, this catapulted the band into the mainstream. I think plenty of people know the band’s name, they know the tunes without knowing the name of the song and they usually can’t connect the song to the band on most instances. As for me, I will continue as a loyal supporter someday hoping to catch them play live.