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Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Recently trending Buffett's meeting takeaway: extreme cautionWelcome to Firstlinks Edition 356The vibe of future returns: tell ‘em they’re dreamin’Baseline outlook for economic recovery is too optimistic Retiree spending patterns differ from most expectations
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Handling extreme winners is a complex task. Conventional wisdom such as “you never go broke taking a profit” often leaves a lot of money on the table as strong growth stocks continue to run.
Investing is a field where experience matters, but we all operate with a set of beliefs. Staying on top of market research gives useful lessons for investors and challenges common assumptions.
Although equities are widely-held by Australian investors, there is a strong domestic bias that gives many portfolios high sector concentrations. Better diversification requires a global focus.
Look for a company whose prices are rising faster than inflation without customer churn, while leveraging its existing strong relationships to cross sell or up sell or some mix of both.
Investors underestimate the power of network effects, which increase the lifetime value of users and deliver high incremental margins with fixed operating costs. It's worth trawling the market for strong network effects.
Structuring an investment team around geography or sectors leads to manager bias in poor sectors. Better to focus on a few areas of fascination where product and business expertise can develop.
We cannot throw our hands up in the air and say 'this time around, it's simply too hard'. Having no macro view is unhelpful, but many of the baseline scenarios are overly optimistic, says the former CEO of Westpac and now Chairman of Chi-X Australia.
COVID-19 is an opportunity for a crucial policy reset, but what does that really mean? Business is hoping for three big reforms, but there are massive barriers to be overcome.
Everyone seems to be watching The Last Dance, a fascinating sports documentary about the pursuit of excellence by one of the greatest athletes of all time. Let's not stretch the business analogy too far.
When we look back five years from now, which companies will we regret not having bought at today’s prices? The next opportunities come from focusing on the long term, not the next few months.
Retail assets, particularly those focused on discretionary shopping, will continue to underperform and industrial and logistics assets will be the winners for the foreseeable future.
The ability of countries to support their economies today turns on fiscal practices set well before this crisis. Increasing levels of debt escalate overall risk, and tie our hands in the future.
It will surprise many that benefits worth over $8,700 could be available for a couple with a super balance over $4 million. Check if you are eligible for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.
The government has announced initiatives to help people use their superannuation in response to the crisis, but for early access and drawdown changes, there are important rules to follow.