Latest wires

A second day of good news for the Australian banks as APRA to reduce lending requirements on new mortgages to better reflect the low interest rate environment. The regulator proposed a relaxation of serviceability measures that would effectively relax the serviceability requirements and increase borrowing capacity . In practical terms,... Show More

The Reserve Bank of Australia opted to leave interest rates on hold. But with key parts of the economy in decline, it may be just a matter of time before it has to cut again. The question is: how effective will a rate cut be?It’s generally folly to predict whether... Show More

Quality investing using Return on Equity (ROE) has been a successful strategy in recent years, but requires careful consideration of the risks, which can differ substantially depending on the stock or the industry. In industries with barriers to competition, we believe it to be embedded with latent risk that often... Show More

Here's some of the standout charts on my radar. I aim to pick a good mix of charts covering key global macro trends, and ones which highlight risks and opportunities across asset classes. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.1. Developed Markets -- Unemployment Rate: This series comes... Show More

This is, without doubt, one of the most common challenges facing many Livewire readers today and is a topic that comes up repeatedly. At the core of the issue is the simple fact that record low-interest rates mean the returns from many income-generating assets are too skinny to live off.... Show More

Nick Kirrage admits he was never a gifted athlete but nevertheless last year completed the ‘Marathon Des Sables’, a 254km ultra-marathon across the Sahara Desert. A career specialising in value investing, which also needs extreme discipline, focus and patience, may indeed have been ideal preparation for this remarkable feat. When... Show More

The Australian share market is heavily concentrated amongst the largest companies both in terms of market capitalisation and industry sector. The top 20 stocks dominate the share market with the S&P/ASX 20 stocks amongst the most widely held and researched companies in Australia.Given the large concentration of the ASX top... Show More

I recently checked the quality of my cars’ airbags. The exercise was simple, fast and provided immediate comfort that my car would be safe when faced with treacherous conditions. Such conditions are possibly being faced by investors currently. Its timely, therefore, to check the airbags in your portfolio.Airbags for your... Show More

As very active capital structure investors, we are constantly engaged in repricing the absolute and relative valuation levels spanning preferred equity, subordinated (or Tier 2) debt, non-preferred senior (or Tier 3) instruments, senior unsecured bonds, cash deposits, super senior covered bonds, and off-balance-sheet asset-backed securities (ABS and RMBS). It sounds... Show More

There was a time when miners were to be avoided for those in search of income, but things have changed for the major players in the sector, according to Troy Angus, Head of Australian large caps at Paradice Investment Management. The hard-learned lessons of the last boom have been ingrained... Show More