Asset management

Where commercial real estate (CRE) debt fits in a defensive portfolio with an income focus The problem with bonds Times are tough for investors or advisers looking to add value through a defensive portfolio. Defensive, or income assets, aim to provide income rather than capital growth. They generally carry a lower investment risk than shares…

While the worst of the September-October sell-off in emerging markets is probably over, the sector is still in a tailspin. But the best thing about starting low is that can aim high. For many investors, China’s recent regulatory crackdown has been a waking nightmare. Add on the Delta variant, rolling blackouts, and Evergrande, and it’s…

ESG is now a required mantra. The most unusual funds claim this status even if they include gambling, governance recalcitrant or those with socially questionable ethics. A change or improvement is enough to get it over the line regardless of the problematic issues that are imbedded in the company’s business. Even more so are those…

Many concepts in science illustrate the incapacity of the natural world to control everything. Once you introduce or determine an aspect, others fold-in or become uncontrollable. The adage that central banks can try to influence rates, inflation or currency, but not all three, is an example of a parallel problem. China is looking down the…

BHP has been the most talked-about company in recent weeks, for both good and bad reasons. Investors had first to digest the massive merger deal with Woodside Petroleum (ASX: WPL). Then it was the the decision to delist from the London Stock Exchange dual-listing and bring the listing home to the ASX. The highlight, no…

Is private equity (PE) the key missing part of adviser portfolios? Endowments, the Future Fund (FF) et al, have heralded their high allocation to PE amid claims to better outcomes than those labouring in listed equity markets. This is not the first time the issue has been raised, the Future Fund is noting its allocation…

Interest rates and hence yields from most classes of investment, have experienced significant compression. This is true of cash, fixed interest and equities. Elevated listed equity market valuations have further compounded the problem as investors also seek downside protection or at least volatility buffers. Private debt has the benefit of both, yield, and downside protection….

Devastating floods, unseasonal hurricanes, excessive droughts, megafires, and more demonstrate how extreme water risk is global now. From an investor’s perspective, the economic implications of risks related to water are significant and should be a consideration when investing. By 2030, the global population will likely exceed nine billion and the world will require 40% more…

Fixed-income investors, all investors for that matter, should be prepared for ‘higher market volatility’ for the remainder of 2021, according to independent asset manager Neuberger Berman. The comments come from their recently published outlook report for the September quarter of 2021, titled ‘Course Correction or Policy Framework Change’, in which heir extensive fixed income team…

Over the past month, Australians have been reminded that the COVID-19 pandemic is still keeping the country in check. Like many other countries around the globe, the lockdowns have wrought havoc on local business and more broadly, the global economy. Given the urgency and immediacy of the recent outbreaks and lockdowns, it’s perhaps not surprising…

The now not-so-new ETFs that follow well-known indices have been a hugely welcome introduction. One does not have to debate the inexplicable underperformance of the majority of active managers, the sometimes usurious fees, the change in teams, and other influences that take up time and effort. The pressure is to explain what they really mean…

Semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML, paint and coating company Sherwin-Williams, and payments company Mastercard are examples of stocks which possess the ‘duration effect’, or the ability to compound their free cash flows over time, according to Eileen Riley, CFA, Co-Portfolio Manager of the Loomis Sayles Global Equity Fund. The following are key take-outs from my recent…