There has long been a saying in Australian investment circles that shorting the Big Four banks was the “widow maker”. The same could be said for a short selling strategy in general during what has been a near decade long bull market. It takes a different kind of mindset to launch a short selling strategy…
Magellan Financial Group (ASX:MFG) and its founder Hamish Douglass have been a lightning rod for investors, analysts and the media in recent months. After over a decade of outperformance, Magellan’s flagship global fund came back to earth, with Douglass’ unwillingness to chase returns in ‘value’ stocks seeing the fund underperform. Combine that with the decision…
Financial advisers can’t be faulted for feeling pessimistic about the future as another year comes to an end. The last few years have seen the advisery world turned upside down, with those who remain paying for the sins of others. But regulation is only one part of the story, as their primary role providing strategic…
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated market sell-off became an unexpected testing ground for many of the more recent advancements in financial markets and investing. One growth area that has passed with flying colours, according to its predominantly institutional proponents, is factor investing. Defined as an investment approach that seeks to target specific drivers of returns…
There was both despair and positivity when the much-anticipated changes to the transparency of industry super fund proposals was released recently. Both 2020 and 2021 have seen growing pressure on the industry fund sector from the Coalition government and a number of committees as they sought to lift the lid on the massive part of…
Australia’s longest standing responsible investment manager, Australian Ethical, has continued to sustain the top quartile performance of their Australian equity strategies, with a surge in assets under management seemingly having little influence on their returns. In their latest quarterly update, the group highlighted the events of COP26, but with a broader focus suggesting the conference…
“To work, or not to work” was the title of Franklin Templeton’s Chief Investment Officer of Fixed Income, Sonal Desai’s latest white paper. The detailed analysis on the US labour market offers insights into the future that lies ahead for Australia but also into the unique and difficult conditions the world is in as we…
If you are an avid reader of the daily financial press, you could be forgiven for thinking that inflation is here to stay and that its time to stock-up on gold, inflation-linked bonds and cash to protect yourself. Such is the fervour of the inflation debate that headlines are now calling-out central banks to raise…
Investment markets have a reputation for being ultra-competitive, with the concept of a zero-sum game meaning one investor’s loss is another’s gain. Yet in the fast growing “impact” investment sector, it appears the opposite is true, with managers seemingly revelling in the success of others. This was likely among the reasons behind the release of…
“House prices could fall 20 per cent” read the headlines last week. Chris Joye, the founder of fixed-income manager Coolabah Capital, wasn’t seeking headlines, but rather being realistic in his latest piece. Having kept track of the entire cohort of mainstream economists for several years now, Joye continues to stand out as being the most…
