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Craig Stanford

Do bonds still offer a buffer to equity volatility?

Most Australians place their superannuation into a balanced fund, making the relationship between bonds and equities a vital part of performance. Does the traditional correlation between shares and bonds still hold? 

Why bother with hedge funds?

Despite negative headlines regularly aimed at hedge funds, they experienced strong inflows in the six years until the end of 2015. What are the benefits of hedge funds for a portfolio?

Why Australian investors use offshore funds

There are legitimate reasons to use an offshore financial centre, which should not be confused with a tax haven where data is withheld from tax or regulatory authorities in other countries.

Just how risky are hedge funds?

The commonly held belief that ‘hedge funds’ are riskier than ‘equities’ isn't necessarily true, depending on what type of risks you want to avoid. A few failures give the overall sector an undeserved reputation.

The long and short of hedge funds, Part 2

Part 2 focusses on the criticisms that are often levelled at hedge funds and how to manage these disadvantages to your level of tolerance. The challenge for the hedge fund industry is to deliver more retail-targetted products.

The long and short of hedge funds, Part 1

Investing in hedge funds is one of the more polarising topics in the investment world, with strongly-held views at each end of the spectrum. Part 1 of this two-part series looks at the advantages of these 'alternatives'.

Latest Updates

Taxation

3 ways to defuse intergenerational anger

With the upcoming budget increasingly likely to include bold proposals to alter the tax code I’ve outlined three incremental steps with fewer unintended consequences.

Economy

Why an extended US-Iran war will punish mortgage holders

The impact of the Iran War is far more than expensive petrol. Higher oil prices have secondary inflationary impacts that reverberate throughout the economy which could be bad news for Australians with mortgages.

Infrastructure

Don’t forget the yield

Global Listed Infrastructure dividends are forecast to grow 5-6% p.a over the next two years. After a hiatus, share buybacks are back on the agenda and will play an integral role in shareholder returns.

Iran war hands politicians free ticket to blame oil prices for inflation

Past oil shocks offer lessons for investors dealing with the fallout from the Iran War and the ongoing impact on inflation.

Economy

Japan 2026: A new PM heralds a new golden age?

Former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, once said "When you change the government, you change the country." We're about to see whether that holds true in Japan.

Investment strategies

Why are central banks moving from US Treasuries to gold?

Central banks now hold more gold reserves than US Treasuries, signalling a shift in safe-haven asset strategy and portfolio diversification as geopolitical risks increase.

Strategy

Has global human wellbeing peaked? What the data reveals

Historically economic progress is measured by GDP growth but there is an increasing body of work that explores quantitative measures of wellbeing.

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