Markets

‘An era of structural inflation is upon us” explained Con Michalakis, head of investments at Statewide Super, speaking at The Inside Network’s Equities and Growth Assets Symposium, held recently in Adelaide for the first time. Challenged with setting the scene for the full-day discussion on equity and growth allocations, Michalakis drew upon his extensive experience…

It’s been two years since Covid-19 reared its ugly head, sweeping fear and panic across global markets and forcing central banks to release massive amounts of stimulus to safeguard against any further deterioration.

There is a common belief among the investment community that infrastructure and other real assets are little more than a “bond proxy”.

“Have we really thought about the investment implications of a world in which inflation is persistent?” That was the question posed by Dr Joseph Lai of Ox Capital.

Absolute return or ‘market neutral’ equity strategies as they are widely known, may well be one of the most difficult approaches to understand for many advisers, but also to manage successfully over the long-term for portfolio managers.

As global share market volatility becomes the norm, active fund managers argue their expertise is needed to help protect against losses and deliver robust investment returns as the times get tougher and asset price growth weakens or disappear

Australian portfolios are not appropriately positioned for the risk and reward on offer from the multitude of asset classes and sectors available, contended Nick Cregan of Fairlight Asset Management.

Here, I focus on five myths about China’s economy and its financial system. In offering more realistic assessments, my hope is to help investors better judge the opportunities and risks of investing in China.

Markets have been incredibly difficult. At the moment there are so many different things going on all at once, slowing growth, rising inflation and on top of that the emergence of black swan events, have caught many, by surprise.

Bond markets have effectively become the ‘freight train’ of a long series of other assets, with a surge in bond yields pulling nearly every other asset class lower.

“We have seen a monumental shift in the way consumers act in recent years” explained Emilie O’Neill of Perennial Better Future

It appears that regulators around the world are getting more serious on ESG, with the US Securities Exchange Commission, similar to Australia’s ASIC, announcing a number of proposals targeted at the growing trend of ‘greenwashing’.