Growth assets

With reporting season over, one would assume markets would have been under strain amid the disruption and pandemic forced restrictions. On the contrary, equity markets have never been better, rising almost 15 per cent in the last six months in Australia. Pendal’s head of equities, Crispin Murray, has released a research note touching on four…

You could be forgiven for thinking 2020 was a difficult year for property investors. The onset of the pandemic impacting all asset classes in unforeseen ways, no more so than property. As we have seen in other asset classes, there is still little certainty in what lies ahead beyond lockdowns, social distancing and the reopening…

Specialist property-based fund manager, Trilogy Funds, added another two properties to its industrial portfolio in June and July, with a third scheduled to settle in August, highlighting the soaring demand and underlying strength of industrial property across Australia. As part of the growing Trilogy Industrial Property Trust the fund manager finalised the purchase of a…

When the going gets tough. As a financial adviser responsible for allocating your clients’ capital, COVID-19 presented sudden and unexpected challenges for most asset classes. Risk assets took an alarming hit but rebounded strongly, while defensive assets were mixed, with bonds performing weakly and cash not worth mentioning. Wherever your clients were invested at the…

What is to become of all those office buildings and retail stores? They will be replaced, of course, at least in investor portfolios. The property sector is already pivoting to the new opportunities. If there’s an investment sector which has more than its fair share of disruption due to the impact of covid-19 it has…

“It’s like drinking from a firehose.” That’s the way Qiao Ma describes the experience of meeting with some of China’s, and Asia’s for that matter, emerging group of company leaders. Speaking at The Inside Network’s Equities & Growth Assets Symposium, Qiao was challenged to deliver unique insights from her extensive experience pounding the pavement in…

The first quarter of 2021 saw renewed confidence in global equity markets supported by positive developments in the fight against coronavirus together with better-than-expected economic data. Fiscal stimulus and vaccine rollout have far exceeded expectations causing equity markets to overcome bouts of volatility. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices hit new all-time highs. The…

Stylistic investing, or the concept of separating companies into arbitrary buckets due to their perceived growth, value or defensive characteristics, tends to dominate discussions these days. Fundamental research and the many rules of thumb applied by investors were founded in a very different world, where “cigar butt” companies (so named by Warren Buffett, who likened…

With tensions rising in the South China Sea and regulatory pressure on the likes of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) continuing to grow, the Chinese market is becoming an increasingly difficult one to navigate as the government seek to exert itself on a global stage.  China has long been seen as the investment darling supported by an…

The recent surge in the market value of Bitcoin (BTC) has made headlines this holiday season as the underlying structure of the market continues to attract more institutional investors. Recent announcements from global leading fund managers, corporations and insurance companies have highlighted a seismic shift in an investor base focused on Bitcoin’s value proposition of…

The Dr Cathie Wood-led ARK Investment Management is facing a different kind of pressure as 2020 draws to a close. According to Bloomberg, ARK’s ETF distributor, Resolute Investment Managers, is seeking to exercise an option acquired in 2016 to buy a controlling stake in the business. The ARK Invest strategy has been a clear winner…

Trillion-dollar French asset manager Amundi released their November Cross Asset Strategy report last week, with gold bullion and active management among their highest conviction calls. The group is renowned for their institutional investment capacity but particular their ESG or Sustainability credentials. With Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) vaccine news coming shortly after the release, CIO Pascal Blanque…