ETFs

The exchange-traded fund (ETF) sector has been among the biggest winners of the pandemic, seeing significant inflows and more investors entering the market. Among the most popular strategies to come to market have been so-called ‘thematic’ ETFs, which offer exposure to a secular trend or opportunity.

With food supply under immense pressure, prices have subsequently increased rapidly leading to agriculture companies going through somewhat of a purple patch. And with no imminent solution to the shortage insight, one way to capitalise on this opportunity is via the BetaShares Global Agriculture Companies ETF.

ASX losing direction, Zip on fire, Rural expands macadamia farm It was another mixed day for the ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) on Thursday, finishing slightly higher, up 0.2%, despite a strong opening. Thursday’s gains came from the IT and consumer staples sectors, which were both over 1% higher for the day, the former driven by a large…

The name is synonymous with investing in Australia, yet Magellan Group remains non-existent in many direct share portfolios. Having been founded in 2006, the group under the leadership of Hamish Douglass has grown to manage over $100 billion in assets and deliver profits exceeding $200 million a year. I’ve always struggled to understand the investment…

In a world of new asset classes, automation and sustainable earnings, there’s no better way to diversify than through exchange-traded funds. ETFs come in different shapes and sizes, including shares or bonds, domestic or international, small-cap or large-cap, hedged or unhedged.  ETFs are growing in popularity. According to Betashares, the Australian-listed ETF market hit $102.9…

Monash Absolute Investment Company (ASX: MA1) has announced that it is undertaking a restructure from shares held in the listed investment company (LIC) into a newly established exchange-traded managed fund (ETMF), to be known as the Monash Absolute Active Trust (ASX: MAAT). Why is Monash doing this? The move from LIC to ETMF will mark…

It has been a wacky year so far.  Stocks that did well during Covid-19, dubbed the “Covid-winners” such as electronics and homeware retailers Kogan (ASX: KGN) and Afterpay (ASX: APT), have been absolutely smashed, losing 44% and 30% in the last three months respectively. Kogan last week announced a profit warning: because it failed to…

Falling out of the headlines surrounding AMP this week was the low-key decision for the group to shut its Dynamic Markets Fund and ETF (former ASX code DMKT). Established in 2000 and managed exclusively by Nader Naeimi for the last five years, the strategy struggled to gain traction, and assets, due to persistent underperformance. At…

Lesson #1. Gold does well in crises, acting like portfolio insurance Every investor wants an asset that offers downside protection, or insurance of a sort. And preferably one that is not suspiciously complicated or synthetic. Perhaps the major lesson from the coronavirus is that gold can provide this type of insurance, as the yellow metal…

This week we reviewed the ARK Invest Space Exploration and Innovation ETF. Despite only being in operation for a short time in financial market terms, ARK Invest may well be one of the most well known names in the ETF sector today. Run by the incredible Dr Cathie Wood, the group is reported to have…