Asset management

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…

For entertainment value, and sometimes returns, little can match an activist short seller. Infamous Muddy Waters is the best example. It claims 19% per annum returns over the past five years, notwithstanding a decent bull market, 2.5% management cost, and 30% performance fees. Its web site provides a colourful synopsis of its short positions littered…

The recent surge in the market value of Bitcoin (BTC) has made headlines this holiday season as the underlying structure of the market continues to attract more institutional investors. Recent announcements from global leading fund managers, corporations and insurance companies have highlighted a seismic shift in an investor base focused on Bitcoin’s value proposition of…

The time seems right to review my investment strategy calls of 2020 and put forward some ideas on the most important action to take before the year comes to a close. In general, the big calls have delivered, particularly the decision to hedge any overseas exposure, with the AUD staging a remarkable rally on the…

Machines and the Mind Around 70%-80% of equity market volume is driven by algorithmic trading. There are a host of actors in this process, from hedge funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and commodity trading advisers (CTAs). It also includes fundamental investors that refine their positions, for example, “percentage of volume” (POV) execution that matches ‘buy’ or…

Active management will be essential for fixed income investors looking to navigate fixed income markets in the months and years ahead As investors continue to grapple with the US election outcome, the economy, coronavirus developments, and other unknowns, the one certainty is that the ability to navigate the fixed-income markets will be critically important in…

I’m often asked by clients and industry figures about Datt Capital’s position on ESG. For a number of reasons, I have difficulty giving a black-and-white answer. It’s fair to say that ESG, or its shorthand – ethical investing – has become part of the funds management zeitgeist, aided in part by much research pointing to…

Crystal balls and fortune cookies Is history an investment guide, the rhyme not repeat version? Those that offer advice on asset allocation rely heavily on past data to support their view of future returns. At its simplest there is mean reversion to trend. Perhaps the challenge is what trend to revert to. There are a…