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Wednesday, 5 August 2020
Recently trending A hard dose reality check on vaccinesAfter 30 years of investing, I prefer to skip this partyHow we have invested during COVID-19Welcome to Firstlinks Edition 367Is the '4% rule' for retirement broken?
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The latest SMSF data shows retirees favour listed shares and cash to maintain liquidity. SMSFs continue to grow, and the new super rules led to changes in contributions, payments and lump sums.
Investors who stick with the same asset allocations as in the past will likely fall short of their goals. The 'right' allocation is personal and holding more equities depends on risk capacity.
Retail investors can learn from a multi-asset strategy that looks how macro events and economics affect market and portfolio risk. Major asset allocation changes can occur in response.
SMSF trustees are concerned about stock market volatility and low interest rates, and they asked six important questions during this seminar on whether gold has a role in their portfolios.
The simple message to diversify is not new, but thousands of SMSF trustees focus only on equities and dividends. COVID-19 is encouraging SMSFs to consider different investment strategies.
The traditional notion that retail investors buy high and sell low has not been supported by activity at this broker, who has seen investors looking for bargains after the Covid-19 sell-off.
Investors hold non-government bonds for both their income and defensive characteristics, but there must be sufficient diversification and liquidity in quality names to manage the risk.
Traditional SMSF asset allocations to cash, banks and property are changing as ultra-low interest rates start to bite, and SMSFs take on more diversified equity and fixed interest exposures.
Last week's poll on whether equity managers should be holding large allocations of cash had more than 400 responses. Disclosure is the key to keeping investors happy.
An investment with any fund manager should be part of an asset allocation decision, but what happens when your equity manager decides to do a major switch to cash? It messes up your plan.
Investors worried about an overvalued sharemarket and low interest rates on term deposits and bonds are focusing on alternatives. What are they and how are they used by leading asset allocators?
After a big rally in 2019, institutions are far more pessimistic about 2020, and 83% expect a GFC-type event within the next five years. They see a strong role for active investing to reduce the downside.
With 160 programmes underway and billions of dollars spent on COVID-19 vaccines, investors are drawn to optimistic news. However, the company that has developed most new vaccines has a sober view.
Eventually, prices become so extreme they bear no relationship to reality, and a bubble forms. I believe we are there today, not for all stocks but for many in the technology space.
With signs that the economic recession will not be as deep as first feared, many companies will emerge strongly with robust business models. Here are the sectors with the best opportunities.
There is a similarity between the current health crisis and economic crises of the past. For COVID-19, record amounts of biotech funding from government agencies and private companies are looking for a vaccine. Likewise, central banks once struggled treating recessions but the 'vaccine' now is record amounts of financial stimulus to ensure liquidity. While the world awaits a COVID treatment, markets are purring along, at least until side effects hit.
The traditional 4% rule was designed to ensure retirees do not run out of money, but low interest rates and expensive equity markets question the sustainability of the level. What are the alternatives?
It’s not only products and business models that create wealth. Management teams make decisions on how to deploy capital and such actions drive vastly different outcomes over time.