COVID-19

The investment grade (IG) REIT sector is certainly one of the worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the June quarter, only 77% of revenues (rent etc.) were collected, with the retail sector collecting just 58% of contracted revenues. Net tangible asset values (NTAs) across the market declined 5.2%, driven lower predominantly by devaluations in…

A major milestone for Pfizer On 9 November 2020, Pfizer announced that its vaccine candidate, developed in collaboration with BioNTech, was more than 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis. After discussion with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Pfizer…

This is an edited version of the full article, which is available here. The article pre-dated the US Election.   Executive summary Societies and governments around the world are looking at a COVID-19 vaccine as the panacea that will enable the world to recover, reconnect and regain our way of life. Since the genetic code…

Executive summary Societies and governments around the world are looking at a COVID-19 vaccine as the panacea that will enable the world to recover, reconnect and regain our way of life. Since the genetic code for COVID-19 was unlocked, researchers have set out in an unprecedented and coordinated effort to make a vaccine available on…

And still they keep coming – here’s the fourth instalment of our series on the fascinating ASX cohort of medical device developers. As always, don’t let the impressive sexiness of the technology persuade you on its own that these stocks are headed for the stars. In each of the three cases presented here, previous investors…

This month we were lucky enough to catch up with Ralph Czichon as Australia slowly moves towards a COVID-normal environment. Ralph is a stalwart and industry thought leader having operated for 30 years and now heading PSK Financial Services in Parramatta, NSW. First off, we aim to learn a little more about Ralph: Whilst a…

Gold has an almost mythical quality to it but assessing its true investment value doesn’t need to be shrouded in mystery. Some investors may still shy away from an asset viewed as difficult to accurately price or predict, but perhaps they are focused on the wrong metrics. Understanding the true value of gold is more…

Not only is 2020 the marking of a new decade, but it potentially marks of a new paradigm of investing. The last 30 years shouldn’t have been that difficult for long-term investors and those using the traditional 40-60 balanced portfolio. The historic fall in interest rates that has occurred since the 1980s means that both…

Managed Accounts, or Managed Discretionary Accounts (MDAs), are a relatively new investment solution available to consumers and financial advisers following recent advances in platform technology. MDAs have evolved to a point where advisers can offer clients a broad range of investment assets and clients have complete visibility of the investments held in their portfolio. What…

Superannuation research house Chant West released their latest update on the performance for the September quarter. Industry groups quickly jumped on the news highlighting the fact that “nearly eight months after the COVID-19 crisis, superannuation funds have clawed back nearly all of the losses”, according to Research Director Mano Mohankumar. Looking closely at the data,…