About Money Magazine Australia

Money Magazine Australia

Overview

Money is Australia's longest-established personal finance magazine, a monthly title that has explained saving, investing, superannuation, property, banking and insurance to everyday households since 1999. It is published in Sydney by the Rainmaker Group, the financial services research and media company that bought the magazine from Bauer Media in 2019, and is supported by the moneymag.com.au website, which carries daily personal finance news, product performance tables, fund profiles, podcasts and tools alongside the magazine's content.

The magazine's standing rests on two things: its independence and its researched product comparisons. Its annual Best of the Best issue and its Consumer Finance Awards draw on the research of Rainmaker Information, the group's data arm, to rank superannuation funds, bank accounts, insurers and investment products. Publisher and library services alike describe Money as Australia's longest-running and most-read personal finance magazine — the description used by EBSCO for the title (ISSN 1444-6219) — and its publisher presents it in the same terms; those are the publisher's characterisations rather than audited figures, and no audited circulation is published.

History

Money began on television. In the 1990s the Nine Network broadcast a primetime personal finance program called Money, initiated under network executive Peter Meakin and hosted by financial adviser Paul Clitheroe, which demonstrated a mass appetite for plain-English money advice. ACP Magazines launched the print magazine in 1999, with former Australian Financial Review journalist Pam Walkley as founding editor and banker-turned-journalist Effie Zahos as her deputy; Clitheroe was central to the magazine's creation and became its chairman and chief commentator.

Zahos went on to edit Money for most of its first two decades, becoming one of Australia's best-known financial literacy campaigners, and the title built its reputation under ACP and then Bauer Media, which published it for 20 years. By the time Bauer put it up for sale, the magazine's readership was reported by Bauer's chief executive to be up 15 per cent year on year, even as the publisher retreated to core consumer brands after closing Cosmopolitan in Australia.

In March 2019 Bauer announced the sale of Money to the Rainmaker Group, making it the first major consumer acquisition for Rainmaker's media division, Financial Standard, which had been established in 2003. Bauer produced its final issue in April 2019 and Rainmaker's first issue appeared in May 2019, the magazine's 20th year. Zahos and her deputy Maria Bekiaris helped with the transition but chose not to continue; Michelle Baltazar, executive director of media at Financial Standard, became editor-in-chief, Darren Snyder became managing editor, and Paul Clitheroe remained as chairman and chief commentator — a role he still fills, answering readers' questions in the magazine and online today.

Content and Coverage

Money's coverage spans the full range of household finance: budgeting and saving, superannuation and retirement planning, shares, managed funds and exchange traded funds, residential property, mortgages and banking, tax, and insurance across life, income protection, health and general lines. Features mix news explainers — such as its 2026 reporting on the card surcharge ban and the state of Australia's ATM network — with reader case studies, expert columns and practical how-to guides. Pam Walkley, the founding editor, still contributes property commentary, and Clitheroe's reader Q&A remains a fixture.

The researched awards program is the magazine's signature. The Best of the Best issue, published in the December/January edition and in its 19th year by 2019, ranks the best financial products in the country using Rainmaker's composite scoring of performance over one, three, five and ten years, together with fees assessed at multiple balance levels. The Consumer Finance Awards follow in July, and the suite has since expanded to include the Life Insurance Awards, which in 2026 marked their second year, run with research partner Rainmaker Information. The Good Super Guide, published under the Money banner, applies the same research approach to superannuation in a standalone guide.

Audience and Reach

Money addresses mainstream Australian households rather than professional investors: people choosing a super fund, comparing home loans and insurance, building an investment portfolio or planning retirement. Its publisher describes its aim as helping consumers improve their financial wellbeing with easy-to-understand, actionable information, and the magazine's longevity — published continuously since 1999 through the global financial crisis, the Hayne royal commission and the pandemic — has made it a reference point for consumer finance in Australia.

Distribution combines newsstand sales with print and digital subscriptions: subscription offers list 11 print issues a year, including the combined Best of the Best summer edition, with digital editions available through the magazine's apps and library and retail platforms such as Zinio and EBSCO's Flipster. The website extends the audience well beyond subscribers with free news, product tables and tools, and the publisher promotes the title to advertisers as the country's most-read personal finance magazine, its own characterisation of the brand's position.

Digital Presence

Moneymag.com.au is the magazine's daily face, publishing personal finance news and explainers through the week, together with the practical apparatus readers use between issues: superannuation performance tables, fund profiles, product comparisons, calculators and the magazine's podcast output. Each awards program is accompanied on the site by a detailed methodology article explaining how the winners were researched and selected. The site carries reader competitions run by the Rainmaker Group — a book giveaway running from September to October 2026 among them — a weekly email newsletter of money tips and investing insights, and the full archive of magazine features, with named contributors including Rainmaker research director Alex Dunnin.

Publishing in 2026 is continuous: the site carried the Best of the Best 2026 research program, with award winners assessed on performance to 30 June 2025, and the 2026 Life Insurance Awards in May 2026, analysing price, cover and features across life, TPD, trauma and income protection policies. Social channels under the Money Magazine Australia name, including Instagram, distribute its content and awards coverage.

Ownership and Organisation

Money is owned and published by the Rainmaker Group, the Sydney financial services information company founded by Christopher Page, its founder and group managing director. Rainmaker has provided data and research on the wealth management industry since 1992 through Rainmaker Information, and publishes Money within its media division, Financial Standard, alongside the Financial Standard industry newspaper and other trade and consumer titles including The Good Super Guide. The group gives its address, in the terms of competitions run on the magazine's website, as Level 7, 55 Clarence Street, Sydney, New South Wales.

Editorially, the magazine is produced by a Sydney team drawing on Rainmaker's research staff for its awards and product analysis. On the 2019 transition, editorial leadership passed from Effie Zahos to editor-in-chief Michelle Baltazar and managing editor Darren Snyder, with Paul Clitheroe continuing as chairman and chief commentator. The magazine's registered details include ISSN 1444-6219, and its digital editions are distributed internationally to libraries and subscribers through magazine platforms.

Contact and Availability

Money is published 11 times a year and is available at newsstands across Australia and by print, digital and bundled subscription through magazine subscription services and the moneymag.com.au website, where readers can also access free personal finance news, superannuation performance tables, fund profiles, podcasts and the weekly email newsletter. Editorial and commercial contact details are published on the website, and the publisher, Rainmaker Group, is based at Level 7, 55 Clarence Street, Sydney, New South Wales.