Investing 101

The South China Sea conflict has largely been a case of ‘failure to act’ whilst the law of the sea has been flouted. China continues to exert military control over its neighbours over the hotly contested waterways, completely unabated.

Following on from my introduction into the world of alternative assets, this article will address one of the fastest-growing yet relatively poorly understood asset classes in the investment world: private credit. Put simply, private credit is non-bank lending, that is, it involves private groups like individuals and fund managers lending directly to business owners. In…

As an experienced financial adviser, with over 15 years in the industry assisting and supporting many self-directed investors, I’m always stunned to learn how few investors actively measure the performance of their portfolio. By measuring performance, I don’t mean looking at your 30 June value, dividends receives, or comparing CSL Ltd’s (ASX:CSL) price today to that when you bought for $2 at float; I mean the actual returns you have delivered from hours of analysis for your family.

The need for crude oil – and other fossil fuels –  is not going away anytime soon, and investors should be holding some assets that benefit from higher oil prices. That’s the contrarian contention from Tamim Asset Management, which has a near-term (18-24 months target on oil of US$50 a barrel; and, longer-term, does not rule out oil seeing a triple-digit price, which it has not seen since 2014.

I’ve personally adopted the philosophy to ‘challenge everything’ as we move into the post COVID-19 world. There seems to be some level of complacency creeping into markets, investment advice and all matters of economics in recent months meaning it is becoming increasingly importance to question the conventional wisdom.

What a year it has been. From rising geopolitical trade tensions between USA and China to an unprecedented pandemic that spread over multiple countries and brought the global economy to its knees, it has been one unpredictable wild ride. Both the Australian and US markets traded in volatile conditions with many asset classes delivering poor results. The Dow Jones Industrial Index dropped by

As we enter the new financial year, it’s worth reflecting on what we have just experienced in the last financial year; not just in investment terms, but our health and community. COVID-19 will have long-lasting impacts on our lives and has resulted in one of the most unique investment environments in history. Markets experienced one…

That famous economist, Dr Copper, has rebounded from his pessimism in March, and is feeling positive. Copper has long been considered an accurate proxy for global economic health and activity, because of the extent of its use. The red metal is the third-most-used metal in the world behind iron ore and aluminium, and is used…

As a change of pace, I’ve taken a look at the outlook for Telstra both during and post COVID-19. The share price fell from a high of around $4 in February to around $3.04 in mid-March and still sits around $3.15. That’s a 20% fall despite the company being significantly sheltered from the events occurring…

The Australian equity market avoided a fall of 30 per cent or more in 2019/20, which is where it was headed when things were at their worst in March, but it was still the worst local sharemarket performance in almost a decade. On a sector by sector analysis, there were some surprises. The sectors that…

Cochlear is one of the world’s leading medical device businesses. Cochlear designs, manufactures and supplies the Nucleus cochlear implant, the Hybrid electro-acoustic implant and the Baha bone conduction implant. Graeme Clark invented the first device in 1982, allowing first-user Graham Carrick to hear for the first time for 17 years. Some of the most recent…

Gold is trending up, in price and discussion on its role in a portfolio. While European investors have typically included an allocation to gold as a matter of course, it is less common elsewhere. The European bias harks back to the debasement of currencies in early 1900, the safe-haven status during the war and the…