TO BE RECATEGORIZED

If you’ve seen the movie The Big Short you will remember Christian Bale’s quirky character Michael Burry – the manager of the Scion Capital hedge fund who realises the US mortgage-backed security market is a massive bubble. He goes on to make a fortune by betting on its crash.

The past two years have seen poor performance for value style indices and typical value managers globally, and stronger performance for momentum, growth and quality factors. There have been recent comments in the market that value is broken or that this could be the death of value.

Superannuation funds need to get on the front foot and respond to the strategic challenge of developing good retirement solutions now. Although superannuation funds can follow the Government’s legislative timetable to develop a Comprehensive Income Product for Retirement (CIPR) by 1 July 2022, that’s hardly an optimal outcome for fund members who have retired or are making retirement plans now.

Capitalism’s days may be numbered – at least judging by recent polls. A majority of millennials reject the economic system, while 55 per cent of women aged 18 to 54 say they prefer socialism. More Democrats now have a positive view of socialism than capitalism.

On August 1, President Trump sent four tweets about China. With tweet three, which talked about additional tariffs on US$300 billion of goods exported from China to the US, Trump rocked markets by publicly escalating trade war rhetoric.

Investing in emerging markets is a bit like making a soufflé: it’s a courageous undertaking fraught with the risk of things not working out as hoped. EM economies may be buffeted by political strife, currency crises, and other upheavals, leaving investors a bit deflated.

Global consumer and business confidence have diverged, a trend that started in 2018. It is otherwise pretty rare, only occurring two other times over the last 30-plus years.

The global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has been in decline since 2017. Combined with the heightened risk of a prolonged US-China trade war; this has caused global interest rates to decline and for the US Federal Reserve to halt any further tightening of monetary policy.

There is a case for not proceeding with, or at least further deferring, the legislated increase in employers’ compulsory superannuation contributions from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent.

More than in many countries, in Australia home ownership has traditionally been seen as a journey, with most of us aspiring to own a home and pay down a mortgage by the time we retire.

Do you think you are paying more than you should for energy, banking, insurance, internet and phone services? You are not alone, and you are probably right.

Fewer people in Australia are likely to get financial advice in the wake of the Hayne Royal Commission – the inevitable consequence of implementing the final report’s wide-ranging recommendations.