Market liquidity and company profits are the twin engines of a bull market. So with liquidity draining, will profit growth be enough to sustain the market? We asked David Poppenbeek from K2 Asset Management for his view on company profits in a recent discussion, and came away with reason for... Show More

When the stars align, there is money on the table for investors in short selling – the process of selling high, then buying low. With the tide of central bank liquidity receding, David Poppenbeek from K2 Asset Management says it’s time to start judiciously growing the short book. You need deeper... Show More

At the start of the year, we announced the ten most tipped stocks from our Livewire reader survey. Three months into the year, this diverse basket is already up by 25.6% on average (or 26.9% with dividends), versus 8.6% for the ASX200. We saw some impressive results from the most... Show More

Today’s macro backdrop of low rates, a weaker economy and lower local currency creates challenges for investors. However, Macquarie can perform in this environment says David Poppenbeek, Joint-CIO at K2 Asset Management in this exclusive interview. With 70% of its earnings from offshore, and the rate sensitive nature of its... Show More

Over recent times Westpac Bank (WBC) has been underperforming the Australian equity market; since 2015, WBC’s share price has fallen 30% whereas the ASX200 has gained 3%. The poor performance period coincides with APRA’s release in 2014 of APG 223 - Guidelines for Residential Mortgage Lending. Show More

Financial services have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks. Following Rowena “Shock and” Orr’s public shellacking of the wealth management industry, AMP Limited has since lost almost its entire board of directors, as well as a big part of the executive team. The banks were... Show More

Despite the prevailing conditions, it is our view that the Australian small business landscape is adapting to the rationing of bank capital. Remarkably, last year there were more than 250,000 new Australian businesses formed, and there are now over 2.5 million Australian registered companies. Show More

Equity markets tend to be an insightful gauge for investor and business leader confidence. So given that the average major equity market has more than doubled in value since early 2009, you would have thought that investors and the management of listed companies would be brimming with confidence. Unfortunately this... Show More

In our view the major Australian banks offer very little valuation upside. In fact we are becoming increasingly concerned that Australian banks are collectively embracing the view that inflation will stay lower for longer, that mortgage serviceability will be at least maintained over the medium term and that property investments... Show More

In this final installment of our reporting season series, we once again asked some of Australia’s leading fund managers to highlight the standout earnings result this week. After punching in strong numbers that converted to an 8% jump in dividends, QBE received votes from both K2 and Atlas Funds. Perennial... Show More