Markets are experiencing a “manic moment” around ESG investments and less exuberance now might not be “a bad thing in the longer run”, according to Fidelity investment director Tom Stevenson. Stevenson likens the obsession with ESG to the popularity of the “Nifty 50” – stocks like Kodak, IBM and Xerox – in the 1970s and…
Industry fund-owned ‘The New Daily’ is once again in political hot water after a controversial deal with AustralianSuper to auto-subscribe 800,000 of the fund’s members to the publication. ‘The New Daily’ has become a bee in the bonnet for a number of Liberal backbenchers, most notably NSW Senator Andrew Bragg, who has characterised the publication…
Investment firm Monash has restructured its Absolute Investment Company LIC (which traded under the ASX ticker MA1) with near-unanimous shareholder approval, voicing concerns that the LIC was “besmirching” the house’s reputation as top fundies. Monash Investors will restructure its Absolute Investment Company into an exchange-traded managed fund (ETMF) – the Monash Absolute Active Trust (ASX:…
The recovery from 2020’s “massive period of turbulence” hasn’t lifted all boats, and there are still plenty of bargains to be had, if you know where to look. Gareth James, Morningstar’s Sydney-based equity research strategist, expects Link Administration (ASX: LNK), for instance, to bounce back from “a tough few years” of regulatory changes and the…
Zenith CEO David Wright has warned that advisers are turning away from alternative assets at a time when they may become more important than ever. Speaking to media on Thursday, Wright voiced concerns that advisers were abandoning alternative assets despite the possibility of “stronger than forecast inflation” and heightened market volatility. “There does appear to…
Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham says that while markets are in what he’s called “one of the great bubbles of financial history,” there’s “no traditional pin” to pop it. Speaking to Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor, Grantham – who famously dodged the Japanese asset price bubble in the 1980s, as well as the Tech Wreck and the…
AMP’s wealth management arm will launch a cost-cutting program and make sweeping redundancies across its workforce in a bid to turn the troubled business around. While “Ms Fixit” Alexis George is yet to step into her new role as AMP Limited chief executive after leaving ANZ, AMP Australia – which is responsible for wealth management…
The mooted transition to net-zero will have an “uneven impact” across sectors, presenting opportunity and risk in equal measure, according to JP Morgan Asset Management. Companies that can achieve climate-based technology solutions are set to be the “biggest beneficiaries” of any new environmental initiatives, with autos in the hot seat as one of the most…
Global small-caps consistently outperform their large-cap brethren – and do it with a better risk-adjusted return – but few investors are paying attention, according to Ausbil portfolio manager Tobias Bucks. “Global small-caps outperform global mid-and large caps. Like all maths, it’s boring but it’s true,”Mr Bucks told the Inside Network’s Equities and Growth Symposium on…
