The exchange traded fund sector moved from strength to strength in 2020, seeing massive flows from retail and professional investors alike. They have also been among some of the best performing investments for the year. Yet with such a great diversity of opportunities available to even the most inexperienced investors, it has never been more…
The Australian reporting season stepped up another gear this week, dividends and cost cutting were the most important topics on the agenda. The threat of inflation is also clearly increasing, with government bond yields in both the US and Australia hitting 12-month highs. Despite this investors remain resilient and unconcerned about the risk of an…
The most-quoted man in finance, Warren Buffett, recently released the quarterly update of portfolio holdings for the US$570 billion ($730 billion) Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. There is little doubt that Berkshire (NYSE: BRK.A) was incredibly busy during the final quarter of 2020. Most interesting was the decision of management to request that the US Securities and…
Despite their popularity in the institutional world, managed funds remain one of the most misunderstood investments by DIY investors. Thus far fund managers have done little to improve the education of end investors to the benefits of their ‘unit trust’ structure. The underlying premise of a managed fund is simple, to pool the capital of…
“Am I worried about asset prices rising too quickly? At the moment, I don’t see anything that’s unsustainable”. That was RBA Governor Philip Lowe earlier this month, responding to a Parliamentary Committee’s intense questioning. The questions came after the RBA decided to double the QE (quantitative easing) program that just 18 months ago it suggested…
Whilst listening to a recent conference by a global multi-asset manager, or “balanced fund.” for lack of a better term, it became evident that most portfolios are inadequately prepared for the future that lies ahead. The group has a number of less-than-conventional views on the asset markets, but it wasn’t these that piqued my interest,…
The Reddit / GameStop / AMC story dominated headlines and social media this week, sparking a renewed interest in both hedge funds and short selling. This bred an ‘us versus them’ mentality between well-organised ‘retail’ investors and the wealthy ‘hedge funds,’ and many people are referring to the practice of short-selling as ‘market manipulation’. In…
Challenger Financial Group (ASX: CGF) reported $842 million in Australian equity sales in the first quarter of the 2020-21 financial year, this represented 35 per cent growth on 2019 levels. The standout though, was a doubling in lifetime annuity sales to $208 million as investors returned to an asset class that was last popular in…
The time seems right to review my investment strategy calls of 2020 and put forward some ideas on the most important action to take before the year comes to a close. In general, the big calls have delivered, particularly the decision to hedge any overseas exposure, with the A$ staging a remarkable rally on the…
The announcement this week that National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) will redeem (repurchase) all National Income Securities (ASX: NABHA) on issue has been a long time coming. Issued in 1999, the perpetual or never-ending preference share raised around $2 billion to assist the bank in meeting its ongoing capital requirements. After trading as low as…
