The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, or CSLR, has become something of a lightning rod for the finance industry in 2022; and yet we are less than a month into the year. While almost every impacted party agrees on the importance of the new scheme, few can agree on who should pay for it, and…
Anyone shopping for basic goods or reading the papers in recent months has likely had more than enough of the “supply chain issues” that many businesses are facing. While many of these are self-inflicted, whether due to our closed borders, the running-down of inventory or a plethora of other issues, they are indeed real. Unfortunately,…
Well-known for its market leading, retiree-focused, franking-credit-driven Australian equity income funds, asset manager Plato Investment Management has gone green. Powered by the same detailed quantitative analysis that has driven tits portfolios since inception, the group this week announced the launch of the Plato Global Net Zero Hedge Fund. The fund will be “managed with a…
Australian investors had some respite on Friday, as volatility disappeared and the S&P/ASX200 gained 2.2% to finish the week. There was little news driving the rebound, aside from perhaps the realisation that whilst rates may rise sooner than expected, they remain fixed near zero. CSL (ASX: CSL) was a major contributor, gaining 3.2% after a difficult week, but it was…
It was an eventful day in global markets, with the US indices initially trading higher after learning that the Federal Reserve were considering increasing the cash rate for the first time in many years in March this year. The market turned quickly, with the selloff in technology accelerating once again. Australia was not immune, with the market…
The last two years have been a near-perfect storm of activity for many financial advisers. The onset of the pandemic placed significant pressure on advisers to respond to client queries at a time of immense stress; many advisers were trying to deal with a flood of new clients as industry numbers dwindled and the big…
“Optimism and opportunity” are the best way to describe the outlook for the Australian equity market in 2022 according to Reece Birtles, of Martin Currie. In his role as chief investment oficer, reading the broader themes is as important as assessing the underlying portfolio companies. As the headlines in the financial press remain fixated on…
While all eyes remain focused squarely on whether inflation is “transitory” or not, “persistent” is the adjective that value manager Allan Gray uses to describe the position of the equity market. Speaking in its monthly update, the firm’s Australian managing director and chief investment officer Simon Mawhinney flagged the “exuberance for some stocks and disdain…
The S&P/ASX200 opened the day reasonably well despite growing negativity in the markets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s impending rate decision. But the release of Australian CPI data reversed that trend with the market trading more than 3 per cent lower but ultimately finished 2.5 per cent or 180 points down. At this point, it is important to keep the…
A spate of headlines over the week naturally put pressure on the S&P/ASX200 today, with the index falling 1% at the open but finding support throughout the day to finish down just 0.5%. It was quite a negative day, with the technology, utilities and materials sectors taking the biggest hit, in many cases due to company-specific results. The winners…
