As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rattle global economies, cryptocurrency — and its most popular “coins,” Bitcoin and Ethereum — has proven to be an enticing asset for a flood of both new and experienced, opportunistic investors. 2021 has seen many highly regarded financial institutions enter the fray, with suggestions that the next-generation asset class may be emerging as…
Inflation has been among the most popular terms across news headlines, research reports and economic forecasts. Whilst the loudest voices tend to dominate in the conversation, inflation is far from a certainty but global asset manager Eaton Vance suggest ‘it’s not an unlikely scenario’ and must be considered. Emerging markets bonds have been increasing in…
With inflation running at its highest level in decades and the global economy getting hotter than anticipated, investors are wondering what to do. Bonds offer slim returns. As inflation has jolted higher, and central banks keep interest rates low, the real returns on bonds in rich countries have hovered below zero. Shares seem little…
After an impressive rise in 2020, tech stocks have been hit by selling pressure so far this year. One tech sector that has defied the recent trend is robotics and automation. The ETFS ROBO Global Robotics and Automation ETF (ROBO) is up more than 4.9 per cent in the first five months of the year,…
The wave of institutional adoption of cryptocurrency assets has been on the rise since the start of 2021. Leading banks and financial institutions have started to offer services in digital assets to the public. Several hedge fund billionaires including Ray Dalio and Stanley Druckenmiller have unveiled their crypto positions. Although the number of prominent names…
Everyone is losing their minds over inflation signals that don’t matter. It is hard to pick up a paper or piece of market commentary at the moment that doesn’t point to some piece of ‘evidence’ that inflation is here and roaring. We have been doing a lot of reading recently around the topic in the…
Technology has been the best performing sector for 10 years. And it has outperformed for the correct reason: it makes more money. The past decade, the tech sector saw its profits – as measured by earnings per share (EPS) – swell more than any other sector. Making matters better for tech, the rate of profit…
Move over supermarkets, utilities and gold bullion. When it comes to defensive exposures, there’s nothing more compelling than medical device providers that prevent deaths from chronic diseases in rapidly ageing populations. According to global Sydney-based specialist equities manager Cordis Asset Management, chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory failure and diabetes account for 80 per…
When COVID-19 found its way to Australia the health advice was to mandate social distancing by closing businesses deemed non-essential and restricting people’s movement. The economic consequences were tragic – both at the aggregate level and because certain industries and occupations were far more heavily impeded. A broad and bold policy response was required, and…
Passive management is often considered an economical way to get market exposure, with good risk diversification and few surprises beyond what the market delivers. However, indexing also means any return is limited to benchmark performance. What if there was a compromise? Read article.
