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Stock buybacks improve earnings per share, making it look like better company performance. In the US, if buybacks stop for any reason, both management and investors alike will have to shift earnings per share expectations downwards.
Marketplace or peer-to-peer lending is well established overseas and growing rapidly in Australia, but investors should understand the risks and the returns, as described in the first part of this debate.
The rise in bond rates in the US in 2018 has tilted investment opportunities away from the easy choice of collecting higher dividends on shares, and now, greater prudence is required.
Among the focus on tech stocks and healthcare sectors, the quality in consumer staples stocks tends to be overlooked, but these are the companies we continue to buy from in all economic circumstances.
Many active managers are closet indexers. The real cost of forcing a skilled manager into a low tracking error is the limit to the upside.
A better approach to sustainable investing is to actively select for better ESG scores and identify companies with a positive impact. Fund managers have an important advocacy role.
Bond investing is not only buy and hold and traditional return sources such as income, changing yields and duration. Relative value identifies market inefficiencies and uses risk management techniques in all market conditions.
The movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, not only took a journey into the future, it glimpsed many technologies that are now with us. It’s time to look ahead to future asset allocations.
The bank bill/OIS swap rate may seen arcane but if it stays at current elevated levels, it may increase rates for borrowers in the same way as an increase in cash rates by the Reserve Bank.
Many investors in global portfolios overlook the currency exposure and should consider leaving hedging decisions to specialists. There is no single optimal hedging strategy as conditions vary over time.
Investors shouldn't automatically assume the inclusion of bonds in a portfolio provides diversity against their equity exposure, as correlations can change in volatile markets.
Home cooking and value investing have much in common. While it takes more time and effort to carefully assemble the right ingredients, the results can pay off over the long run.
This AI cycle feels less like a revolution and more like a rerun. Just like fibre in 2000, shale in 2014, and cannabis in 2019, the technology or product is real but the capital cycle will be brutal. Investors beware.
An explosion in low-skilled migration to Australia has depressed wages, killed productivity, and cut rental vacancy rates to near decades-lows. It’s time both sides of politics addressed the issue.
LICs are continuing to struggle with large discounts and frustrated investors are wondering whether it’s worth holding onto them. This explains why the next 6-12 months will be make or break for many LICs.
Australian housing’s 50-year boom was driven by falling rates and rising borrowing power — not rent or yield. With those drivers exhausted, future returns must reconcile with economic fundamentals. Are we ready?
Younger Australians think they’ll need $100k a year in retirement - nearly double what current retirees spend. Expectations are rising fast, but are they realistic or just another case of lifestyle inflation?
This week, I got the news that my mother has dementia. It came shortly after my father received the same diagnosis. This is a meditation on getting old and my regrets in not getting my parents’ affairs in order sooner.