Equities

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…

The moment the investment world has been waiting for has come. ETF Securities appears set to be the first Australian ETF provider to launch a listed strategies that tracks the spot price of two of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies, Ethereum and Bitcoin. Subject to regulatory approval, ETF Securities is set to launch into the crypto…

Today’s investors are “riding for a fall,” according to Oaktree Capital founder Howard Marks. Markets could well be in for a repeat of the “Nifty Fifty” large-cap mania of the 1960s. When Howard Marks was just starting his career in finance in 1969, the preceding 20 years had been “a “mostly unchanging backdrop… in front…

Evergreen Ratings, a subsidiary of Evergreen Consultants and a leading research house that specialises in the analysis of closed ended and complex sustainable investment vehicles has given the Aura Venture Fund II a “Commended” rating, highlighting the funds strong team of venture capital specialists. The alternatives wealth manager, Aura Group, recently opened its second venture…

ESG may well be the most commonly used term in financial markets today, replacing growth, or quality in pitchbooks the world over. However, growth in regulatory pressure and concerns of ‘greenwashing’ have seen some experts calling for the end of the term ‘ESG integrated’ when it comes to defining investment funds. Global asset manager Robeco…

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…

Komatsu Australia, the local arm of the global manufacturer and distributor of earthmoving equipment, has taken a step into the future by embracing virtual reality (VR) technology to help train and upskill its staff. The company has called upon Brisbane-based virtual reality scale-up, Next World Enterprises, to train and upskill its RTOs in line with…

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…

Is it the chicken, or is it the egg? Does a certain kind of personality gravitate to becoming a “quant” manager, or do quant managers end up thinking in a systematic way? “I’m pretty sure that a large part of it is innate,” says Andre Roberts, senior portfolio manager in the Invesco Quantitative Strategies (IQS) team. “Certainly,…

Since its founding 35 years ago, Australian Ethical has been at the forefront of responsible investing. The firm was an ESG investor before ESG became the buzzword it is today. In 2020, AE’s experience and approach came to the fore, with assets under management doubling on the back of strong investment performance and positive impacts….

Reflecting on a decade of investing in emerging markets, specialist asset manager Martin Currie succinctly summarised its experience by highlighting that “surprises are nothing new.” Such has been the rapid rate of change in the expansive world of less-developed economies that things rarely turn out as expected, but also, and arguably most importantly, the worst…

Sustained strong performance has not caused complacency at global equity manager Munro Partners, which this week announced the launch of a new ‘climate’ dedicated equity strategy. After successfully navigating the taper tantrum, Trump election and the pandemic, CIO Nick Griffin has identified what Munro believes is a $30 trillion opportunity, and split its Climate “area…