Contrarians can be a lot like teenagers: they think they’re all different but end up looking the same. This however, is not true of this week’s guest, Tim Hillier from Allan Gray. Case in point: when asked what stock he’d own if the market were to close for five years,... Show More
It is not unusual for us to invest in companies that go on to significantly underperform the broader sharemarket. In fact, this happens to us 40% of the time. It is the other 60% of the time and what we do on the back of a significant fall in the... Show More
In an age of social media and smartphones, the challenges faced by investors today are decidedly different to just a few decades ago. With algorithms serving us a consistent diet of content that’s similar to what we’ve ‘liked’, it’s easy to get caught in an echo chamber. Show More
One of the most fundamental principles of capitalism tells us that large am ounts of competition drives down returns. Investing is no different. Dr Justin Koonin, Investment Analyst at Allan Gray, explains why they prefer a contrarian approach. Show More
The list of problems facing Telstra is well known: falling revenues as the NBN rolls out, and declining market share in mobile. As the payments from the NBN begin to roll-off, some have questioned whether Telstra can even maintain its reduced dividend. But it’s precisely this negativity that caught the... Show More
Very few activities in life are both worthwhile and easy, and investing is no exception. While jumping on the latest high-flying momentum stock might win you the support of your friends and colleagues, such a strategy is unlikely to be profitable long-term. Show More
10 years into a bull market, and with most major indices showing triple-digit percentage gains from their lows, finding value is tough. Compounding the challenges, ‘value stocks’ by the traditional definition have underperformed throughout this period. Despite this, some value investors are still posting outsized returns. If history is any... Show More
As the GFC started to unfold, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) quickly fell in value, from a generous premium to just 75% of their book value. Allan Gray saw a contrarian opportunity, stepped up to the plate, and started investing in the sector. Show More
The idea generation part of an investment process is something that get's a lot less attention than it deserves. At Forager, we have a clearly defined process for researching an idea and working out whether the idea is a good one or not. But how do you come up with... Show More
I read an interesting article in the Fin earlier in the week about professional investors worst mistakes. There were some great insights into what can go wrong. And all highlighted the benefits of recognising your mistakes early. Most fascinating to me, though, was that the worst mistakes seemed to be... Show More