Opinion

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…

When the going gets tough. As a financial adviser responsible for allocating your clients’ capital, COVID-19 presented sudden and unexpected challenges for most asset classes. Risk assets took an alarming hit but rebounded strongly, while defensive assets were mixed, with bonds performing weakly and cash not worth mentioning. Wherever your clients were invested at 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….

Just what is China doing by limiting all kinds of activity and corporations? Many see this an authoritarian regime imposing restraint on its citizens. Yet this is not exactly unusual. Every domain imposes rules. Our local media content, our banks have been given the book on what they can and can’t do, our energy market…

Coalition Senator Andrew Bragg has been outspoken in his concerns about the growing power of the industry (or union) superannuation sector. Between himself and fellow Coalition member Tim Wilson MP, they are singlehandedly putting the blowtorch on a sector that avoided the worst of the Royal Commission. In a paper this week titled Competition for…

It has been a difficult few years, or perhaps decades, for forecasters of all kinds. Whether it was election polling that failed to predict both Trump’s and Morrison’s stunning wins, or the UK’s Brexit; spiralling coronavirus case numbers; or those calling for massive property market and economic pain throughout 2020, the end result was the…

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…

Despite a brief moment in the sun during the depths of the pandemic, Modern Monetary Theory or MMT, somewhat disappointingly remains on the fringes of economic and financial market analysis. Mainstream economists, but particularly politicians from both ends of the spectrum, continue to stoke fear of ballooning government debt, and flag inflationary concerns that simply…

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…