Markets

Alignment of interest is a concept basic to a great many modes of human behaviour yet in the funds management sector it does not necessarily receive the attention it deserves.

Often dubbed the ‘original fintech’s’, the wealth management platform space is becoming a highly competitive area as disruptive innovative start-ups threaten the status quo and cashed up platforms actively acquire businesses to leapfrog ahead. Following on from the Royal Banking Commission, a record number of advisers shifted towards non-aligned financial advice, away from a vertically integrated banking world. Consumer led demand has forced advisers to become a lot more mindful that the selection of the right platform can significantly impact the outcome for their businesses and their clients.

The broad ESG framework is experiencing a sea change. In the past, governance and environmental issues sparked investor interest, a paradigm COVID-19 is challenging. Although climate change remains a major global issue, rapidly changing economic and financial circumstances induced by COVID-19 have investors focusing more on social issues and societal challenges.

Investors are realising that without meaningful technology exposure, their portfolios are missing a major growth driver. However, the difficulty of picking individual stocks should not be under-estimated, with the innovations and business models of many tech stocks hard to grapple with.

For much of the investment industry, committing to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) has become a recently-adopted core belief. A concept that was brought into focus  15 years ago at the 2005 Who Cares Wins conference, which examined its role in asset management and financial research, ESG has now become entrenched across the industry. Although there are still widely varying degrees of commitment to ESG, investing today in assets that adhere to these principles comfortably exceeds $US30 trillion – and is growing rapidly.

INBrief
Andrew Canobi – Franklin Templeton

INBrief
Andrew Canobi – Franklin Templeton

The days of thinking wholly in terms of traditional asset classes when it comes to portfolio construction may have been numbered for some time; in Australia, the Future Fund’s statement of investment policies, when it started its investing life in July 2007, was perhaps the first sign that there could be a new way of thinking, with the usual categories of equities and debt securities subordinated to a distinction between “tangible” assets (defined as property, infrastructure and utilities, in listed or unlisted form); “alternative” assets, considered to include a range of risk premiums (for example, commodities and futures and insurance-based strategies); and skill-based absolute-return investments, or “intangible” assets.

It has been one volatile year to say the least. Both the Australian and US markets traded in volatile conditions with many asset classes and more importantly sectors delivering poor returns. From rising geopolitical trade tensions between the USA and China to an unprecedented pandemic that spread over multiple countries and brought the global economy to its knees, investors were dealt an unpredictable hand.

The quarter saw an onslaught of record-breaking economic data, as Australia officially entered its first recession in nearly 30 years. The economy contracted a comparatively strong 0.3% in the March quarter and is expected to fall as much as 8-10% in June as the worst of the economic shutdowns hit. It’s clear that Australia’s world leading fiscal stimulus is very much needed to support a recovery.

The pandemic lockdown has forced businesses to rethink modes of distribution and introduce automation in response to an increase in online shopping for essential items. Qube and Goodman Group have welcomed the opportunity to expand operations with some of Australia’s biggest retailers. Integrated port and logistics provider Qube is at the forefront of driving automation…

The listing on the ASX this month of the Magellan Group’s Airlie Australian Share Fund as the first “Quoted Fund” – the first dual unlisted unit trust and active exchange-traded fund (ETF) structure in one listed unit – has been cited as a game-changer in many respects, with the primary emphasis being on its benefit…