News labeled personal finance:

Investing in high-yield or emerging market bonds are two attractive alternatives in the current uncertain market environment. For those willing to bear the risk of owning equities, investing in companies with high dividend yields is also a good option. Here you can hear Hans Peterson, head of Investment Strategy at SEB, outline some main conclusions in the most recent issue of the Investment Outlook report. Click link to read full report.

Swedish households again believe in rising house prices. SEB’s housing price indicator for April increased to +15, the highest level since June last year. In detail, 41 per cent of respondents expect prices to increase while 26 per cent expect prices to decrease. 26 per cent expect prices to stay unchanged. For the first time since June, all regions’ indicators are back at positive levels although there are still large division between regions.

SEB’s Housing Price Indicator rose to -17, but remains stuck in a fairly small range with most households expecting prices to decrease or stay unchanged. In January’s survey, 69 per cent of respondents believe house prices will decrease or stay unchanged over the coming year. More specifically, 43 per cent of the households expect prices to fall while 26 per cent believe house prices will stay unchanged. The share expecting prices to rise was unchanged at 26 per cent for the third month in a row.

For the second year in a row, SEB has been named the best private bank in the Nordic region by the magazines The Banker and PWM (Professional Wealth Management). Both magazines are part of the Financial Times Group. Although the survey was launched in 2009, SEB has only taken part since 2010. "The award is based on a thorough study of our business model," Martin Gärtner, head of Private Banking at SEB, says.

The latest issue of SEB’s Baltic Household Outlook shows that due to increased inflation, real earnings for Baltic households will rise very slowly or stay unchanged in 2011. Rising food prices is one of the current forces pushing up inflation, and is negatively affecting purchasing power of households. Food in general and also compared with different groups of products remains cheaper in Lithuania than in Estonia or Latvia. The largest increase in food prices was observed in Estonia. But food is still the most expensive in Latvia.

SEB's Housing Price Indicator falls to a ten month low at +27 in June compared to +41 in May. The euro zone debt crisis has started to weigh on households' sentiment. Households' repo rate expectations in the coming year are stable at one per cent.

SEB’s Housing Price Indicator for the Swedish housing market rebounded to +35 in April after slumping to +29 in March.

As technological development increases, it has become easier to obtain personal information about individuals that may also be abused in more channels than before. SEB Kort has launched ID insurance, a new insurance offered to all Eurocard and Diners Club customers in Norway.

SEB Latvia launched the Family Budget Planner, an easy-to-use tool for all Latvian residents in the spring of 2009. It permits its users not only to have a comprehensive summary of the family’s income and expenses, but also to compare the structure of its expenses with an especially developed optimum expense model.