The world of alternative investments is at a crossroads. As markets defy expectations and liquidity concerns take centre stage, investors find themselves forced to rethink how they deploy capital in an increasingly complex environment.
For decades, advisers have relied on bonds as the go-to counterweight in a balanced portfolio. But as the correlation between bonds and equities turned positive in 2022–2023, shock ensued; and many investors are rethinking what they thought was a truism.
What do you do when you finish high school? “Go with your strengths,” Peta Nunn’s school careers counsellor told her. So, she found herself in a maths degree at university. But something didn’t feel right.
Private credit investing has seen exponential growth in recent years, fueled by structural shifts in financial markets and a growing demand for flexible, non-bank lending solutions. Private credit is no longer a niche – it’s a major force in the market.
The release of a landmark report by corporate and financial regulator the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) into the nation’s rapidly expanding private markets – and shrinking public markets – has brought this dichotomy into the spotlight, as indeed it has around the world.
In case any active managers needed reminding, asset consulting firm Frontier Advisors has confirmed that 2024 was the most challenging year for global active equity managers in more than two decades.
Investors always have to trust the fund managers to which they entrust their capital; but even better than trust is alignment.
There are plenty of people in the investment industry who say they have been influenced by legendary investor Warren Buffett, but for Gold Coaster Hugh Robertson, the obsession with the “Oracle of Omaha” started when he didn’t really know anything about him. It was the start of a journey that led to his advice firm, Centaur Financial Services.
Australian investors have poured money into private equity (PE) investments in recent years, but asset valuations are prone to the same combination of multiple and margin compression, and interest-rate pressure, that affects the listed markets. A big chunk of the pile of PE value is potentially facing high fire risk.
Melbourne-based Link Wealth Group has acquired its fourth advice practice, buying a majority stake in Hobart-based full-service financial advisory firm, Sky Advisers.
