From Covid to conflict, all it took was just a few weeks for the market to shift its attention to the unfolding crisis in Ukraine and away from the pandemic. The crisis disrupted supply chains and triggered record-high inflation which forced central bankers to raise rates to contain the rise. What came next, was a…
“We recently cut risk but stick with stocks over bonds for now. Equity prices now reflect much of the worsening macro-outlook and hawkish Fed” were the latest comments from the Blackrock Investment Institute in their weekly research note. With the recent pullback in equity markets due to rising inflation and interest rates, Blackrock have reduced…
It has been an incredible few months in markets, with the tech stock selloff, compounding into a crypto rout, all with the backdrop of the worst performance from bond markets in decades. Another reporting season has passed, and corporate Australia is looking much like the US, with the labour market busier than ever. In this…
Markets are falling, interest rates are rising alongside inflation, the US dollar is appreciating along with bond yields and money is moving away from risk. While the crisis in Ukraine still plays out, it certainly has exacerbated risks surrounding growth and inflation. Ned Bell, Chief Investment Officer at Bell Asset Management discusses the current market…
Independent investment consulting firm, Evergreen Consultants, have released findings on the performance of green Australian and international equity funds that have high responsible investment ratings. The results showed that both underperformed their market benchmarks: Top quartile Australian equity managers in the Evergreen Responsible Investment Grading (ERIG) Index returned negative 4.48% in the quarter, compared with…
Westpac has added $1.5bn in net inflows for the 1H of the year on its BT Panorama platform while still looking for a buyer. It was somehow able to brush off a major tech outage which received a lot of bad press to win business from financial advisers helping it increase its funds under management…
ETF Securities has won the race to list Australia’s first cryptocurrency ETF, ending a long drawn out battle among ETF providers. Australia’s first Cboe exchange listed bitcoin and ethereum ETFs are set to launch on Thursday, giving investors long awaited access to both cryptocurrencies. A delay stalled the previous launch date of April 27. ETF…
Alternative investments are gaining popularity, mainly due to their low correlation to more traditional assets such as stocks and bonds. They also don’t fall into conventional asset categories and have been lumped together with a range of investments that tend to be less liquid and harder to value than the traditional equities type investment. They…
The financial services market has been more active than ever in 2022, with the shortage of workers and significant growth leading to a flurry of activity in role and job changes. In this new column, we will seek to keep readers abreast of the major moves that have occurred each fortnight and welcome readers input…
The VIX Volatility Index or Fear Index hit a 52-week high of 38.94 last week after $65bn was wiped off the Australian share market. To put that in context, the VIX index rose to 65pts when Covid-19 first hit and peaked at 80 at the start of the GFC. While the VIX index has broken…
