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Saturday, 31 October 2020
Recently trending Have the rules of retirement investing changed?18 Aussie names for your watchlistBuffett and his warning about 'virtually certain' earningsHamish Douglass on what really mattersKate Howitt: investing lessons and avoiding the PIPO trade
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Global equity markets have experienced huge volatility during 2020. Investors are now looking at stretched large cap valuations but there are good opportunities in less well-known, smaller companies.
Australian investors have a domestic bias, but around the world, a swag of small to medium cap companies offer better value than the mega-cap names that have driven markets in recent years.
The sizeable increase in the market capitalisation of the technology leaders has inadvertently led to reduced diversification via a reduction to a mid cap exposure in portfolios represented by the Russell 1000.
Companies ranked 51st to 100th by ASX capitalisation are in the mid-cap sector. They have better historic returns, industry diversity, insider ownership, and growth prospects than the S&P/ASX50.
Investing in mid-caps not only avoids the concentration of banking and mining companies in the Top 20, but has provided better returns due to their growth potential and agility in making strategic decisions.
In retirement, we still want to reduce stock volatility while generating cash flows. The two needs have not changed, but the reward expected in the old days from interest payments has gone. What should we do?
A Morningstar stock screener reveals a cross-section of companies with competitive advantages that are trading at material discounts to estimated value. This is a list of 18 highly-rated names worth watching.
While many investors are happy to invest in any online companies, Warren Buffett focusses more on the quality of future growth, buying companies whose earnings are 'virtually certain' in 10 or 20 years from now.
Questions on the stock market/economy disconnect, how to focus long term, technology's growing role, income in a low-rate world, Modern Monetary Theory and endless debt and the tooth fairy.
Kate Howitt identifies the stocks she likes and the disappointments, gives context to the increasing role of retail investors, and explains why the market is more of a 'voting not weighing' machine than ever before.
It is trite and obvious to say the future is uncertain, and while COVID-19 brings extra risks, markets are always unpredictable. However, investing conditions are now more difficult than ever, mainly because the defensive options for portfolios produce little income. We explore whether investing rules have changed with new input from Howard Marks.