Asset management

It seems as if Japan does not get a lot of respect from external investors, for good reasons. The Nikkei index appears to disprove the theory that the sharemarket delivers superior long-term investment returns, being at the same level now that it was back in 1991. Almost 31 years on from its record high, the…

In the middle of 2015, Morgan Stanley Research in Australia published a report which predicted that managed accounts would prove to be a major disruptor of traditional investing via managed funds/unit trusts. The report, ‘Evolution or Revolution?’, seemed overly bullish on the new way for individual investors and their advisers to access professional investment management….

Investing to improve lives  is the mantra of Martin Currie, one of the world leaders in ESG investing. This annual report reviews the year that was highlighting seismic  moves in society amidst the pandemic and flagging its extensive engagement on governance, meeting 178 companies.

The COVID-19 recovery is looking more U than V-shaped as hoped, according to Western Asset Management. That said, lockdowns will act only as a disruption to a strong US recovery, with the group favouring consumer names across Europe and the US.

Currencies are the closest cousin to this age cohort in investment markets.

Too hot, too cold or, just right? It is suggested that this fairy tale has two moral issues, firstly, the sense of entitlement as Goldilocks freely samples the bears’ home and contents and secondly, question of what is ‘just right’. 

Great debates on longer term economic trends and the impact on financial markets are often a go-to conversation with investors. Few call up to ask what is the discount rate or cash flow yield, but many have opinions on issue such as debt and globalisation. The latter is a tough topic as globalisation is a…

Of the many opportunities that were thrown up by the Covid-19 Crash, one of those that is still open – although weakening by the day – is that in the eight credit listed investment trusts (LITs). Most of this group were trading at small premiums to net asset value (NAV) prior to the crash, such…

After years of ever-increasing focus on returns to the extent that even fixed income allocations got caught in the vortex, there is a sobering reassessment of the risk profile across a portfolio.

It has been called “the robbery of the century”. Martin Shields and Nicholas Diable, two British investment bankers, are on trial in Germany for helping structure a massive tax evasion scheme, known as cum-ex trading, that has siphoned up to €55 billion (about US$60 billion or A$90 billion) from European public funds.

Do you think you are paying more than you should for energy, banking, insurance, internet and phone services? You are not alone, and you are probably right.

The Australian Labor Party’s 2019 election campaign showed a depth and breadth of economic policies rare for an opposition party to present. Its policy agenda was boldly extensive. But in developing these policies over the past five years, it seems Labor’s economic minds overlooked some fundamental principles of behavioural economics.