Asset management

One of the (many) headaches of the current financial market setup is the lack of return on cash or term deposits that can hold onto the real value of money. This is a modest but important ask. Many investors want an unreasonably large liquidity pool that will have no risk of capital loss well beyond…

The world of investing has for a long time been viewed as a game most suited to older people, who have had the time to accumulate capital, or finance-oriented people with the experience to understand what is happening, and to be able to keep up with the constant volatility of trading on the share market….

Emerging markets have been among the most popular targets for allocations from financial advisers in recent months. Whether it is the strength of the economic recovery in Asia, or the more attractive yields available on sovereign and corporate debt, Australian advisers are finally embracing the sector. One group with extensive experience is Eaton Vance, a…

As the COVID recovery gathers momentum, it is interesting to consider which sectors and companies are benefiting from the short-term boost of temporary stimulus measures and which present long-term opportunities as global growth recovers. We have identified three themes that frame our thinking about the long-term prospects of Australian small cap stocks: adding to high…

Challenger Financial Group (ASX: CGF) and its suite of asset management businesses have started 2021 off the same way 2020 finished. As part of their half yearly accounts, the company flagged a partnership with $500 billion Japanese asset manager Nomura Asset Management as both seek global diversification. According to the deal, Nomura and Fidante will work…

While nearly all the fussing on equity valuation and bubbles is centred on the US, Europe, Japan and the emerging markets (EMs) have provided decent returns year-to-date, after a prolonged period of relative underperformance, but stumbled in the face of rising Treasury rates. These regions are largely absent from the hype that is currently associated…

Let’s get real The financial chatter box is overflowing on bond movements and the potential impact on valuation of risk assets. Inevitably the long-duration equities are front of mind. Most are focused on the FAGAM (Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft) or other similar stocks where the valuation is considered to reflect long-term thematic growth. On…

It’s not hard to find commentary about market “bubbles” on a daily basis, where you can take your pick on traditional bond prices, property, growth equities and now extend the topic to bitcoin, gold or many other financial markets. At best it’s a welcome relief from COVID-19, but ultimately it resembles the virus chatter in the…

Now that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has said that it effectively expects to keep rates on hold until at least 2024, the flood of capital into private markets, but particularly credit, is likely to turn into a tsunami. Advisers are being forced either to move along the risk curve in the search of…

When a 25-year-old English fund manager with £21 billion (A$37 billion) under management discloses it had made a sizable investment in bitcoin, it is bound to give the institutionalisation of the cryptocurrency a big kick along. This is especially so when the manager regards bitcoin as a potential store of wealth and not an alternative…

Middle market companies contribute close to 25 per cent of Australia’s GDP and employ a similar portion of the population according to consulting firm BDO. Simply defined as those companies with a turnover between $25 million and $500 million, most would agree this is the growth engine of the Australian economy. Yet increases in global…

Asset consultancy Atchison Consultants expects 2021 to be a “recovery year” on global markets, based on the prospects for the COVID-19 vaccines that are being rolled-out, but says these prospects are themselves the major risk, given the amount of investor optimism that has been baked-into valuations on the back of the vaccine announcements. While the…