Looking under the ETF bonnet
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,...
Can analyst reports be relied upon?
Way back when it was possible to have relatively open conversations with company management and receive mostly unscripted responses. Nowadays the access is...
Overvalued, undervalued or fair value?
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...
What do financial advisers want from their fund managers?
Words, words, words * Many of us spend quite a bit of time reading commentary and reports from fund managers. At times it feels like a desperate search for...
For investing, as in racing, always hedge your bets
There have been plenty of reasons to visit a bookie recently, given the Melbourne Cup Carnival and the US election. Financial commentators provide a rather...
IPOs and credit - overheated or heating up?
More than a sport, a financial mismatch There is an awkward, yet in many ways predictable, relationship between investors and the providers of investments. An...
Emerging markets to the core
The mention of emerging markets (EM) opens up a messy vista of many complex and troublesome issues, not least in China, representing the beating heart of EM....
Sizing up the smalls
Generalising is a dark art. The moment one observes an apparent pattern, idiosyncratic data jumps out. Judging small-cap managers falls into this trap....
Back to school - who gets the best grades?
Assume you are the global portfolio manager of the Sector Hindsight Fund. This allows you to make decisions with knowledge about equity sector performance with...
Precise Risk in Imprecise Markets
There are probably few things more certain to glaze the eyes of investors than discussing risk-adjusted returns or efficient frontiers, never mind Sharpe...
Get your income fix
Listed infrastructure represents what is both great and frustrating in investment funds. The domain is largely captured by private investors and their...
The failure of fancy strategies
While one can fret about the relative performance of equity and fixed income funds, the frustration with those that have underperformed is directed at their...
Private space to public face
Though no longer a new theme, non-bank lending requires a refresher. Everyone is by now aware of the limitations of bank finance and therefore the provision of...
The FAANGs of fixed interest
Consider the process by which a security or investment is priced. Separately, if it has similar fundamental underpinnings to the core part of portfolio,...
Gaps in ESG investing
Most fund managers or asset owners you may question to about ESG have probably stated that they are a signatory of the UN PRI at the very beginning of the...
Inflation: From simmering to a boil
Inflation is an age demographic phenomenon; ask anyone with a vintage pre 1980s’ versus the younger set. To a lesser extent is inequality. The case for...