Equities, fixed income, and alternatives tend to get all the media attention and headlines, but there's an oft-forgotten asset class that underpins most investor's portfolio's: cash. Low rates around the world have seen cash fall out of favour with investors in recent years. In this wire, I'll explain some of... Show More
In recent months, interest rates have been rising globally, exerting a downward gravitational pull on the value and price of most assets. It’s a trend that’s likely to play out for some time. Show More
We sat down with Simon Doyle, Head of Fixed Income & Multi-Asset at Schroders, and asked him how he would allocate a million dollars today. In his responses to this tough question he made it clear that it’s not a good time to be building a big position in equities. Show More
APRA’s letter to superannuation funds in June this year laid bare a concealed and often ignored risk being taken by some fund managers. Funds that are meant to be invested in low risk, highly liquid securities are being invested in medium and high risk securities with limited liquidity. Here’s the... Show More
In the scramble for customers, some fund managers and superannuation providers are taking on additional risk, investing in a range of assets and deeming them ‘cash’ when clearly they are not. Show More
While it offers a good way to diversify your portfolio, the yield on cash is a shadow of its former self. However, it’s time to rethink this and take a fresh look at how recent innovations can achieve a more meaningful yield, without compromising liquidity or transparency. To find out... Show More
Beggars in China with QR codes hanging around their necks and others pleading with matrix-barcoded tins caused a stir when they appeared on Chinese city streets in the past year or two. Fellow Chinese shouldn’t have been surprised. These beggars are only keeping up with one of the most-rapid trends... Show More
Sitting in a pub with property man Pete Wargent a few months ago, we were discussing the property market of Sydney in the 2008-10 ‘downturn’. I use inverted commas because barely a blip registered on any city-wide measurement of house prices. Show More
Forager’s two funds have quite high cash weightings today. It’s almost 28% in the Australian fund and 30% in the Forager International Shares Fund. On our recent roadshow tour, many intelligent questions were asked about the current cash weightings. Is it reflective of our thoughts on value available in stockmarkets?... Show More
While the profit and loss statement is doubtless very important for investors, the balance sheet should not be underestimated; it may even be more important. Below we run through the top points to consider when coming face-to-face with a balance sheet. Show More
The most effective strategy we have at Wilson Asset Management to manage volatility is our nimble and flexible mandate. We have the ability to hold high levels of cash when we cannot find suitable investment opportunities. Under our mandate, we can hold anywhere between 0 and 100% cash levels and... Show More
One of the common critiques about gold is that it is impossible to “value”, with no cash-flow that one can use to determine whether the current price is cheap, expensive or fair. This “failing” of gold leads many to simply write gold off as an “investment” per se, as it... Show More
Australian investors have largely missed out on the 20-year bond rally, preferring instead to invest in cash for their liquid/defensive asset holding. However, they missed out on a major benefit of holding high quality bonds – the negative correlation they provide to equities. This particularly came to light in the... Show More
“We’ve never in history, run sophisticated economies, with sophisticated financial systems, through declining populations. It is a truly unique event.,” said Mark Burgess from Jamieson Coote Bonds at the recent Livewire Live investor forum. “ affects all asset classes in strange ways… House prices don’t work when demographics don’t work.”... Show More
With interest rates at historical lows, it is easy to forget how valuable cash can be. Show More
The impact of history’s greatest monetary experiment is now upon us. Low interest rates, flat yield curves and the pursuit of yield have rendered it difficult for value investors to find interesting new opportunities. In this environment, I’d suggest building up some cash. Cash is like an option over every... Show More
Increasing valuations due to low interest rates, rather than growth in economic value, has been the culprit in the S&P500, almost tripling since its low point in March 2009. Warren Buffett has said if interest rates remain low for many years then there’s plenty of room for the market to... Show More
We believe market volatility is set to expand significantly in the near term. Investors are growing more and more disillusioned with the rhetoric of unqualified optimism. Things are not getting better and because of failed expectations, the threat of a concerted risk asset sell-off climbs higher. Show More
In our opinion, we’re in a cyclical bear market for global equities. The centre of the global challenges in this bear market is China (& surrounding, related EM economies). As such, while US equities are expected to trend lower, US government bonds are an attractive safe haven. We would also... Show More
Aussie market moved up and down and finally finished mainly flat. There is enough negative news that can derail optimism in early March. The currency is holding up like a rock and we will need RBA to move on rates to get that down. It’s time to buy some gold... Show More
