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Tuesday, 26 October 2021
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Even the best long-term performing fund managers have shorter-term periods of underperformance. It’s not a failure, it’s a feature of the industry. Investors need patience when backing a good track record.
Peter Thornhill shows how his personal portfolio has thrived under an 'all-in equities' strategy, but Warren Buffett's favourite valuation indicator says stock markets are priced at their most extreme ever.
What do hot cross buns and funds have in common? In both, there is no answer to which is the best, as their characteristics appeal to different people. Select the ones that suit your taste and appetite, maybe with added spice.
Lists of the best funds of 2019 show geared funds dominate, which is little more than a statement that gearing does well in a strong market. What about the costs and downside when it's not so good?
Investors do not ask enough questions of their fund managers before they commit money. It's worth at least knowing whether a long-term view is taken rather than the easier road of jumping in and out of markets.
How could a managed fund lose 96.5% of its value and then gain 767%, to become both the worst and best performing fund in Australia? From financial crisis to recovery, the answer is in the timing and the structure.
If you’re not prepared to select a manager and hang in there for at least three years and preferably five, index and save yourself some fees. You should expect underperformance at some time in the investment cycle.
Two linked factors explain and justify our concern for rank relative to our peers, one largely psychological and sociological, and the other primarily economic. But what are the risks of performance anxiety?
The RBA Governor says rising house prices are due to "the design of our taxation and social security systems". The OECD says "the prolonged boom in house prices has inflated the wealth of many pensioners without impacting their pension eligibility." What's your view?
We tend to forget that house prices often fall. Direct lending controls are more effective than rate rises because macroprudential limits affect the volume of money for housing leaving business rates untouched.
The survey drew a fantastic 2,000 responses with over 1,000 comments and polar opposite views on what is good policy. Do most people believe the home should be in the age pension asset test, and what do they say?
Any policy decision needs to recognise who is affected by a change. It pays to check the data on who pays taxes, who owns assets and who earns the income to ensure an equitable and efficient outcome.
With articles on the pensions assets test read about 40,000 times, 3,500 survey responses and thousands of comments, there was a lot of great reader participation. A few comments added extra insights.
It is hard to think of any area of widespread public concern where the same policies have been pursued for so long, in the face of such incontrovertible evidence that they have failed to achieve their objectives.