IPOs

Advisers all have financial benefit from promoting investments through an advice fee, or percentage of FUM. This is not a value judgement, simply a statement of how this industry and many others work. No one has come up with an alternative model that can balance all the conflicting requirements. Yet, as we know, there will…

The chief executive-elect of AMP Limited, once a financial services giant in size and stature – boasting for a time the advertising slogan: ‘We will always be there’ – faces the biggest task of her career. Her track record could not be better. The advertising slogan sounded good, if overly ambitious, for its post-IPO times. The sector’s predilection for…

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…

In a year of bushfires, cheap money, a US Presidential election and a global pandemic, investors were exposed to a rollercoaster ride of mixed emotions, panic selling, and dizzying bouts of volatility. Reflecting back on the calendar year 2020, it is interesting to see which group of companies outperformed. Large or small caps? Tech or…

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 old-fashioned assessment of demand and supply can be helpful. If equity market exuberance is high, any listing attracts the heat of attention and can be sold to eager investors hoping…