The latest Buffett letter was released over the weekend. At 17 pages, it was shorter than we’ve become used to, but there was no lack of wisdom flowing from the 87-year-old from Omaha. Notably absent from this year’s letter was any discussion of the Wells Fargo debacle. Buffett has a... Show More
Reading the latest stock tips and macro calls is fun and useful for generating new ideas, but educational articles offer real long-term value. As the proverb goes: “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a... Show More
There is Fundamental analysis and there is Technical analysis. A lot of investors think it ends there. But there is another body of analysis that is essential to the process which is not so obvious, analysis that any fund manager in the small and mid-cap space must master and respect. Show More
One of the lasting impacts 9 years after the global financial crisis is ultra-low interest rates. This is great if you are a borrower, but not great if you are a saver – because if you avoid risk today, your returns will almost certainly be very low, and potentially lower... Show More
Macro analysis often gets a bad rap these days. Fund managers often prefer to associate themselves with value investors like Warren Buffett, who famously deride the use of macro analysis. However, we can’t all be Warren Buffett, so macro analysis can form an important part of many investment processes. Show More
In the first edition of Livewire’s new podcast, The Rules of Investing, we take a deep dive into one of the most important concepts in investing, valuation. Our guest this week is Roger Montgomery, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Montgomery Investment Management. Show More
If you’ve ever walked away from a property auction shaking your head in disbelief, you will know that emotions can get the better of investors. As rational as we may be, greed and fear are a powerful force that can hijack even the best-laid plans - “I won’t pay more... Show More
New global leaders don’t come up very often, so identifying them relatively early can have a huge effect on a portfolio. The iPhone came out ten years ago, and investors that bought Apple in 2007 are now sitting on a ~1000% return before dividends. So, how do you get one... Show More
A stock in your portfolio has fallen 30% since you bought it; is the market telling you something, or is it just better value than before? This is one of the most important questions an investor faces on a regular basis. Averaging down is when an investor buys more stock... Show More
People often refer to themselves as either “fundamental” or “technical” investors and feel so strongly about one style of investing compared to another that they engage in heated academic debates. The view at Cadence Capital is that investors should use whatever tools are at their disposal to try to beat... Show More
The purpose of this analysis is to explore the risks and opportunities that come with what we call the ‘Modern Day Disruptors’. More specifically, we will look at the potential winners and losers from the perspective of a global equity investor and aim to answer the most important question: Will... Show More
In January, we were reviewing the Fund numbers for the 2016-year-end and there looked to be an error: the percentage return for the year was higher than the dollar change in the Funds Under Management and didn’t reconcile. After scratching our heads, we realised what the issue was, and it... Show More
Alex Duffy, Portfolio Manager of the Fidelity Global Emerging Markets Fund, sees some common characteristics among the management teams of great companies. Show More
Risk Management is a key part of our framework at Morphic Asset Management. In today’s post, Morphic’s head of Macro and Risk, Geoff Wood, discusses five essential steps in their risk management process. Show More
In prior editions, I’ve explained some common, straight-forward terms. Today, we take a dive into a more complex idea: Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). While it may sound slightly esoteric, it’s potentially one of the most important concepts both in investing and corporate finance. Investment decisions are made on... Show More
Some stock pickers are diversifying into riskier areas such as emerging markets and deep value situations to boost returns. There is definite upside, but also significant risks. Fidelity’s Alex Duffy told Livewire that a risky balance sheet can trigger major write-downs of shareholder wealth “from which there is no comeback.”... Show More
The legendary Howard Marks, founder of the US$100b Oaktree Capital, was recently interviewed by Barry Ritholtz on his Masters In Business podcast. The 75-minute long interview is wide-ranging, but as usual, his comments around investment strategy stood out. Show More
After introducing EBIT last week, in in part two of Beyond the Jargon, I’ll be explaining PE and PEG ratios – likely the most quoted terms in finance. However, despite its wide use, the PE ratio remains a divisive topic. Some deride the PE ratio and its variants as ‘useless... Show More
Cyan’s primary focus is to invest in commercially proven businesses entering or enjoying a growth phase. These businesses need not be bottom-line profitable, thus traditional earnings metrics (PE, dividend yield, ROE type metrics) can be irrelevant. However, ‘commercially proven’, for us, translates as ‘generating revenue’ and hence there are other... Show More
In the coming months, I’ll be writing a series of articles explaining common terms and acronyms that get thrown around by professional investors. I'll try to keep the language straightforward, and I hope I can shed light on some of these terms. For the first entry, I’ll be explaining one... Show More
