A financial institution that CARES

When the going gets tough, it’s good to know there’s a helping hand

There’s no doubt it has been a tough year for many. But in among the challenges, there are companies committed to giving back. One such leader is La Trobe Financial, one of Australia’s leading diversified wealth managers, and its La Trobe Financial Foundation.

LEGACY OF CARE

Since 1952, La Trobe Financial has provided funding and investment solutions to more than 180,000 customers, with a focus on helping people achieve financial security. This commitment to building and supporting communities across all walks of life further extends to the philanthropic La Trobe Financial Foundation, which was founded in 1978. In keeping with the spirit and philosophy of ‘others before self’, the foundation has supported a variety of healthcare, education, cultural and sporting initiatives. To date, it has donated over $15 million.

HELPING THOSE AFFECTED BY COVID-19 we have had to adjust to working from home, limiting travel and adopting social distancing. It has also put pressure on our finances. In response, La Trobe Financial introduced a hardship assistance program for small business customers. Whether tourism operators, growers and exporters of fresh produce, or businesses reliant on imports, the company offered deferral of scheduled loan repayments; waiving fees and charges; temporary interest-only periods to help with cashflow; and debt consolidation to make repayments more manageable.

La Trobe Financial also donated $1 million to Epworth hospitals for extra ICU equipment, to cope with COVID-19 admissions.

DISASTER RELIEF Similarly, La Trobe Financial gave $1 million – split between The Salvation Army Bushfire Disaster Appeal and Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund – to support Australians impacted by the recent bushfire crisis.

They also offered relief for customers impacted by bushfires by establishing a Disaster Relief Package. For customers who lost their homes to bushfire, the company offered to pay loan interest and charges for 12 months, provide access to interestfree loans to help cover any gap between insurance payouts and the cost of rebuilding, and allow fee-free withdrawals from investments in the La Trobe

Australian Credit Fund.

For other customers experiencing hardship from the bushfires, it deferred loan repayments for up to 12 months, helped with finance on discounted terms to cover property repair costs or support a small business, and made it easier to access investments in the La Trobe Australian Credit Fund without incurring fees. Assistance was also extended to customers who are volunteer firefighters.

As these measures show, La Trobe Financial and La Trobe Financial Foundation have a genuine commitment to both customers and the wider Australian community.

Death in Daylesford

Kerry Greenwood, $29.99 When a mysterious invitation arrives for Miss Phryne Fisher from an unknown Captain Herbert Spencer, Phryne’s curiosity is excited. Spencer runs a retreat in Victoria’s spa country catering for shell-shocked soldiers. Phryne is quickly thrown into the midst of disappearing women, murder and the mystery of the Temperance Hotel. Meanwhile, Cec, Bert and Tinker find a young woman floating face down in the harbour, dead. Disappearances, and murder, land Miss Phryne Fisher right in the middle of her most exciting adventure.