Much has been made of the increased popularity of passive investing, and rightfully so. Markets have generated excellent returns over the long term, and index tracking Funds or ETF’s provide very low-cost exposure to highly diversified portfolios. However, in this wire, we explain what it has in common with investing... Show More
We are on the home stretch of FY18 and microcap and small caps indexes have continued to demonstrate strength. Once again, microcaps significantly outperformed large caps. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index returned a -3.69% for the Q3FY18. In contrast, the S&P/ASX Emerging Companies Index posted a -1.85% return in... Show More
Veris Limited (VRS: ASX announced another acquisition in its continuing strategy to rollup firms in the surveying and urban/regional planning business. Veris decided to wind down its old OTOC construction business over last 18 months to focus on its surveying and planning strategy. The new acquisition was well received with... Show More
Kip McGrath Education Centres Limited (KME: ASX) has been a long-standing microcap on the ASX. The company provides private tuition for students through a network of franchise tutors. The company has been overhauling its business model and systems in the last few years in order to improve profitability and capture... Show More
Consolidated Operations Group (COG:ASX) is the new incarnation of the old Armidale Investment Corporation (AIK:ASX). COG has been slowly transitioning itself from the old LIC structure to a proper operating business structure over the last two years. COG is now pursuing two main lines of business: Show More
In this wire, I share the team's outlook for Australia's economy and equity markets. Corporate Australia delivered earnings growth of 18% in FY17, with the market relying on Resources to do most of the heavy lifting. Disruptive and cyclical challenges remain a defining feature, but a pick-up in capex, a... Show More
Growth is increasingly elusive in today’s world, particularly from companies experiencing organic top-line revenue increases. There are very few companies that can grow revenues and earnings organically from operating purely in Australia as many of their products and services are saturated domestically. So where do we find companies that are... Show More
MedAdvisor (MDR: ASX) operates in the healthcare IT space, specifically in improving the interaction between pharmacies, patients, drug manufacturers and doctors. They provide a fully digital end to end experience for processing medical scripts for prescribed medication. Show More
The tide has turned. When I wrote Fuzzy Future for Fundies almost a year ago, the concentrated nature of the ASX All Ordinaries Index was the only thing holding back the index investing wave. Show More
HGL Limited (ASX: HNG) is a mini-conglomerate containing predominantly distribution businesses. HGL distributes some of its own propriety brands and third party brands in the Australia and New Zealand market. The business has been in a turnaround or self-help mode for the past 3 years and these efforts are now... Show More
Recent takeover activity, including that surrounding Australia’s Spotless Group and Dutch paints and coatings maker AkzoNobel, has investors asking the question: what’s in a company’s long term interests and who’s to decide? Show More
My colleague, Wesley Phoa, argues that “the key to successful active management in periods of elevated uncertainty is not to stake everything on single-point forecasts. Rather, it is the ability to apply detailed policy analysis to a range of scenarios, and to maintain enough portfolio flexibility to respond rapidly and... Show More
The decision by Harvard to terminate half of its investment staff and outsource funds management bucks the global trend to internalise funds management. The underperformance achieved in the last decade came despite Harvard having all the factors necessary to recruit and retain excellent fund managers. Harvard has a great brand... Show More
The relentless rise of passive management has seen index-tracking funds grow by $2 trillion over the last three years, and was a key driver for the Henderson-Janus merger. This has re-opened the long-standing debate around active versus passive management, and to gain an industry expert view, Livewire met with Giselle... Show More
In the 1990s, Colonial First State fund manager Greg Perry established himself as an industry doyen. Between 1990 and 2002, the flagship Imputation fund outperformed the market by 11.8% p.a. Together with CEO Chris Cuffe, the duo oversaw a highly successful period, with FUM growing from $150 million to $100... Show More
The argument of active versus passive is not a new one, but with US$700 billion of capital flowing from active managers to passive managers in under a decade in the US, the passive argument would appear to be on the front foot for now. However, in this Bloomberg piece, Luke... Show More
The Morphic Perspectives Series is designed to highlight topics and subject matter that we think is particularly relevant to investors and then provide a more in-depth analysis on those topics that goes further than our regular blog posts. This quarters piece looks at the rise of passive investment strategies and... Show More
William Low, Nikko Asset Management's Head of Global Equities discusses the role of pragmatism and free-thinking and how these concepts can be applied to investing. In the second of two conversations with Vanessa Stoykov creator of the "No More Practice" series, Will explores how opportunities can spring from unexpected places.... Show More
Will Low, Nikko AM's Head of Global Equities discusses pragmatism and free-thinking and how these concepts can be applied to investing. A pragmatic or free-thinking approach compels people to think outside the box and not rely on what’s happened in the past when making decisions about the future. In the... Show More
In this week’s special report, Clime’s CIO, John Abernethy shares his latest 'Letter to Investors'. In his last letter, investors were foretold of an expected sideways movement in the Australian equity market. What is hidden within the long term sideways movement is extreme short term volatility. This volatility is expected... Show More
