Articles by Adam Schwab

iSelect has dominated the Australian market and is a tasty prospect for stockmarket players. But don’t believe all of the hype you’re reading in the nation’s financial daily.

The corporate watchdog is putting two directors of collapsed retirement fund Prime — Bill Lewski and Michael Wooldridge — into the dock. Their answers on the dramatic downfall are intriguing.

No one seems especially cut up by Nathan Tinkler’s recent rapidly declining fortunes. Tinkler, once the richest Australian under 40, says he has some $700 million in assets. But does he?

Frank O’Halloran, the former emperor of QBE, destroyed the insurer’s balance sheet and left a big potential landmine behind in QBE LMI. For his trouble he was paid more than $58 million.

Departing BHP boss Marius Kloppers is leaving the mining company in far worse shape than he found it — and being paid handsomely for it. Even Rich Lister Ivan Glasenberg took a swipe today.

Oliver Curtis — a former Bachelor of the Year who settled down with a high-flying Sydney PR queen — has now been charged with conspiring on insider trading. It could be a heavy fall from the social set.

From all reports David Coe was a generous man, loved by friends and family, who died too young. But that doesn’t change the fact he presided (and personally benefited) from a massive corporate collapse.

The coal hoaxer has stung ASIC out of its timidity and lethargy. It seems there’s one set of rules for the wealthy and powerful, and another for coal activists living in a forest.

While Australian retailers struggle with technology, the poor performance appears to be a local problem, rather than a retail problem, as some of the world’s biggest retailers provided in 2012.

There were the executives who won big and the shareholders who lost out — and none of them did it quietly. Our business commentator hands out his annual awards for 2012 …

The best performing CEOs, with the toughest jobs in super competitive sectors are able to create real earnings growth. It’s the “name brand” executives who tend to deliver the worst performance and get the most pay.

The Click Frenzy online retailing spruik wouldn’t have impressed customers. And yet traditional retailers actually have all the cards when it comes to online shopping.

The money behind the Australian Grand Prix must stare in envy at the endless parade of horses, hats and money that flock to the Birdcage during Melbourne’s racing season.

The surfwear company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday is expected to be feisty, with founder Gordon Merchant’s head on the block in a shareholder-led revolt.