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Welcome to Firstlinks Edition 483 with weekend update

  •   10 November 2022
  • 10
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The Weekend Edition includes a market update (after the editorial) plus Morningstar adds links to two additional articles.

Here's a tweet from a financial commentator I thought worth exploring:

"There are 4 types of Wealth:

1. Financial Wealth: Money
2. Health Wealth: Physical
3. Social Wealth: Network
4. Time Wealth: Freedom

Most people think #1 buys you 2, 3 & 4.
But that order is incorrect.
#2 & #3 are free and are integral to achieving #1, which then buys you #4.
"

Let's first look at financial wealth. Almost everyone would agree that money is relatively important. It enables basic human needs to be met such as food and shelter. It also allows potential luxuries or human wants to be met too. Financial wealth helps fulfill the key building blocks of psychologist Abraham Maslow's famous hierarchy of human needs.

The amount of money needed to be financially wealthy is a matter of debate. For people in poorer countries, a few dollars can mean real wealth. In parts of Australia, a million dollars doesn't get you far. Therefore, financial wealth is important but relative.

Turning to health wealth, physical health is undoubtedly crucial. Without it, we can't live. And poor health can impair quality of life as well as the longevity of life.

I would add mental health to this category. Science is uncovering more evidence of how the body and mind are connected. Just the other day I went to the physiotherapist for lower back pain, and he diagnosed the cause to be not physical but stress from taking up a new job. In other words, Firstlinks has a lot to answer for!

The third category of social wealth is where my views start to diverge from the author. I suspect by 'network', the author means the creation of a network through networking. In other words, forming a network of people who will help you reach your work or business goals, and ultimately, your financial goals.

I've always thought networking, and the creation of a network, is overrated in the pursuit of goals. Many will disagree with this and provide evidence to the contrary. My view is that if you create value for people, your network will grow organically. Perhaps this is naive.

My idea of a network is different. It's principally the bedrock of family and friends. As well as that organic network of acquaintances who you've helped, or are helping, or vice versa.

Let's move on to the final category of wealth: time wealth. I hear this a lot in the financial community: time is the ultimate commodity. Is it though? I've had enough contact with my parents' generation, retirees in their 70s and 80s, to know that some retirees are financially secure and have all the time in the world but don't have a clue what to do with that time. Golf and bowling don't seem to provide a cure-all for their boredom. Taken to the extreme, you can have 365 free days each year, yet if you don't know how to fill them, they aren't so valuable anymore.

To the above template of wealth, I would be tempted to add a fifth type of wealth: purpose or purposeful wealth. Purpose or meaning may underlie all the other types of wealth mentioned here. As the philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, once said: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how."

For a vast span of human history, religion has provided purpose. For Christians, it's God and the afterlife. For Muslims, it's the five pillars of Islam, with belief in God and obligations of prayer, charity, pilgrimage and fasting. For Hindus, it's belief in Brahman, and concepts such as Karma and Dharma. Interestingly, Dharma as outlined in the Hindu core text, the Bhagavad Gita, is about the quest to find one's true purpose in life.

With the decline in religion in recent times, many people have sought to find alternative beliefs to fill the void. They've certainly chased the four types of wealth mentioned already: money, physical health if not peak physical performance, networking and freedom.

Perhaps purposeful wealth can be added to the mix. What type of purpose, you may ask? I wish I knew the answer. My own observation of wise and happy people inside and outside the finance industry is that helping others, whether family, friends or strangers, seems to provide meaning. I'm sure there are many other things that can provide purpose too.

What are your thoughts on the four types of wealth? I welcome any feedback and suggestions on the topic.

Also in this week's edition ...

Keiran Rooney of Evergreen Consulting looks at what reforms need to happen for unlisted asset valuations at superannuation funds to reflect real world valuations more accurately. Increased exposure to unlisted assets, such as private equity and venture capital, have helped hold up the returns of many super funds this year. 

Where Kieran is somewhat critical of super funds for investing in private equity to smooth out returns over time, José Luis González Pastor sees this as a strength of private equity's rather than a liability. He makes the case for private equity offering lower volatility than public markets in turbulent times and attractive performance over time.

Tom Stevenson of Fidelity International believes it's time to question several investment tenets that may not stand the test of time. He puts the 60/40 portfolio, gold as an inflation hedge, growth investing and China's ascendancy under the microscope.

Meanwhile, Alison Savas at Antipodes Partners sees an underappreciated risk to markets: the global technology arms race between the US and China. She examines how the race may play out and what it means for investors.

And this week, we have the pleasure of welcoming Rob Ferguson as a guest contributor. Rob is widely known as the former boss of BT Australia and a finance industry doyen. In his article, he offers a touching tribute to Don Sanders, the former Commonwealth Bank CEO and Reserve Bank Deputy Governor. He has high praise for Sanders, calling him the most distinguished banker in Australia's history.

Firstlinks has previously written about the potential merits of high-yielding Floating Rate Notes (FRN) in a rising inflation environment. Matthew Macreadie from Income Asset Management is also a fan and makes the case for Ampol subordinated notes as being especially attractive.

Lastly, Julie Steed reminds us that registrations for director identification numbers (director IDs) are due at month-end. She offers a guide for what you need to know and what you need to do.

In the weekend update by Morningstar, Zunjar Sanzgiri and Annika Bradley give an overview of our top picks for fixed-interest ETFs while James Gard looks back at an eventful week for cryptocurrencies.

This week's White Paper from Capital Group suggests that, despite the challenges faced in 2022, attractive opportunities remain across four key credit markets.

James Gruber

***

Weekend market update

On Friday in the US, stocks kept their momentum as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose just under 1% and 2%, respectively, wrapping up the week with heady 5.5% and 8.4% advances, while the US Treasury market was closed in observance of Veterans Day, though iShares 20 Plus Year Treasury Bond ETF finished marginally lower after yesterday’s rip.  

From AAP Netdesk: The Australian share market rallied to its highest level in five months on Friday on signs that US inflation is finally cooling. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday finished up 194 points, or 2.79%, to 7158, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 204.4 points, or 2.86%, to 7350.1.
It was the second-best day for the ASX200 in the past two and a half years, behind a 3.75%, 242.4-point rally early last month.

Every ASX sector on Friday gained ground except utilities, which had a double-digit rally on Thursday on a private equity firm's takeover overtures towards Origin Energy.

Tech stocks were the biggest gainers, climbing 5% as Afterpay owner Block gained 11.5% and Wisetech Global soared 10.4%.

The interest rate sensitive property sector climbed 4.1%, with warehouse owner Goodman Group gaining 6% and Stockland rising 4.2%.

In the mining sector, lithium producers IGO, Core Lithium and Allkem all closed at all-time highs after rising from 2% to 4.3%. BHP rose 3.8% to a three-month high of $42.09, Fortescue Metals added 5.8% to a nearly two-month high of $17.76, and Rio Tinto was up 4.4% to a four-month high of $102.63.

The big banks all had a solid day, with Westpac up 2% to $24.08, CBA climbing 1.7% to $105.81, NAB adding 1.1% to $31.35 and ANZ up 1.5% to $24.64.

From Shane Oliver, AMP: Global shares surged over the last week helped by lower than expected US inflation for October, which is seen as taking pressure off the Fed and ultimately other central banks including the RBA (as US inflation led inflation in other countries including Australia on the way up). For the week US shares rose 5.9%, Eurozone shares rose 4.8%, Japanese shares gained 3.9% and Chinese shares rose 0.6% (helped by more signs of an easing in Covid rules).

The lower US inflation data also pushed bond yields down sharply. While oil prices fell, metal, gold and iron ore prices benefitted from the risk on tone which also saw the $US fall. As a result, the $A rose to around $US0.67. 

It's been a long time coming, but underlying US inflation finally appears to be easing. Headline inflation in October dropped down to 7.7%yoy (and is now well down from a peak of 9.1% in June) but more importantly core inflation came in at a slower than expected 0.3%mom, easing to 6.3% yoy from 6.6%. Prices for used cars, household furnishings, medical care and airfares fell.

Importantly, our Pipeline Inflation Indicator is continuing to trend down and points to a further fall in US inflation. This correlates more with goods price inflation (which is slowing) but as this leads services price inflation its likely to slow too in the months ahead. Inflation in Australia is lagging the US by around 6 months, so it should start to decline here from early next year.

Latest updates

PDF version of Firstlinks Newsletter

ASX Listed Bond and Hybrid rate sheet from NAB/nabtrade

Indicative Listed Investment Company (LIC) NTA Report from Bell Potter

Plus updates and announcements on the Sponsor Noticeboard on our website

 

10 Comments
Harry
November 13, 2022

Thanks. Nice article, but ditch the physio and see a doctor.

mark ridhlgh
November 12, 2022

Agree totally about network wealth. Ask retired people how many of their network contacts do they see. Other commentators have raised the idea of purpose in retirement. I believe this is a core principal. One needs a reason to get out of bed . This is alluded to in time wealth Not point having time unless you use it purposefully even if it is too cook slowly or smell the roses

Mart
November 09, 2022

Pretty much 100% agreement James - especially your comments on networking which mirror mine. I was / am always staggered to hear folk who are otherwise sensible (!) saying they are going to attend a certain event or meeting as "it will be a fantastic networking opportunity". Poppycock it will ! Having fairly recently retired (poor word but anyway...) I find time is the thing I enjoy most .... having it to myself to do what I want with after so many years of not having this. Thanks for a great article that articulates perfectly what I couldn't !

Russell Wadey
November 09, 2022

Maslow is a bit simplistic, have a look at Schwartz's Value Circumplex.

D Ramsay
November 09, 2022

Great article.
Maintaining and pursuing , or even just trying, creative interests innate to oneself (sculpting, painting, writing code, Physics (learning how our universe works), performing arts, sport - take your pick) when combined with attaining the basic components of the Maslow pyramid, are the key to avoiding the time vacuum people speak of.
The quote from Nietzsche is well known, and I suggest having a look at Viktor Frankl's "Mans search for Meaning". It sounds like a wanky self help book, but it is not.
A holocaust survivor, medical Doctor and Psychiatrist who developed a new model for helping his patients, he passed away long before this modern age of (anti) social media and narcissism. The first part of the book is biographical. The second part pin points all the ailments of human behaviour and society now - before they even happened !

Lisa R
November 09, 2022

Mr Gruber, welcome to First Links, which I read regularly, selecting the articles most relevant to my own situation. I agree that the best way to lose ones self absorption is to help others, and regularly donate small amounts to three charities devoted to the welfare of animals and protection of native fauna. I enjoy live theatre, concerts and musicals. I enjoy studying individual investing and managing my SMSF. These pursuits are not overly expensive, but do provide a lot of fulfilment!

James Gruber
November 10, 2022

Excellent, good for you, Lisa. Thank you for the feedback.

Graham Wright
November 09, 2022

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" (Kris Christopherson) is self-actualisation. No responsibility, no obligations. Self-satisfaction. When you have it and look back, that Heirarchy of needs appears to be a lot of unnecessarliy high expectations and objectives, many not fully achieved but hindsight says sufficient was achieved for self-actualisation.
I'm there except when I get peed off by the unexpected and the changing world and actions of others, that occasionally impacts my self-satisfaction. It's all in the mind. "All will be right in the end and if it is not right now, you've not reached the end yet" (heard in the movie "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel").

Jim Neville
November 09, 2022

Very interesting analysis! Everyone has their own unique experience and perspectives, but I would endorse James' view that much happiness comes from being 'other centred' - ie actively pursuing ways to positively interact with others in the community and doing so in constructive, helpful and thoughtful ways.
Golf and bowls go so far - but singing (in a choir) is an option that provides endless enjoyment and brings much joy to others. In Sydney try: www.sydneymalechoir.com

James Gruber
November 09, 2022

Hi Jim, I have several friends who love their choir too. Thanks for sharing.

 

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