For years I have been told that secondary corporate bond, or "credit", markets are illiquid and difficult to trade in. The problem is that anyone who actively trades credit knows that this is a myth. Last month I put $500m of new money to work in credit in a matter... Show More
As a follow up to my most recent commentary on gold and interest rates, I have attached what I consider to be two very interesting slides. The first relates to the net positioning of two of the most widely traded long-term US Treasury futures - 10-year and 5-year Treasuries. It... Show More
The latest data shows that Chinese investors traded a record volume of commodity futures last year – another factor reinforcing the view that heavyweight investors have re-entered the commodity scene. Combined aggregate trading volume on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and the Dalian and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchanges jumped by 27% during... Show More
Earlier this week I wrote about the impact of funds buying back into commodities during 2016, including record net long positions that have driven the LME index of prices up by 36% since 1 January 2016. Well, there's further solid evidence of growing fund interest in commodities, with the latest... Show More
A lot has changed in the commodity space over the past 12 months. For starters the London Metal Exchange (LME) index of prices fell to 2,049 during January 2016, but it’s since recovered strongly to 2,799 (graphic 1). This appears to reflect a very significant situation – the worst seems... Show More
Since the US election, the ASX has rallied +4%, but strong gains in financials, energy and materials have been offset by losses in the “bond proxy” sectors of listed property, utilities and telecoms. The biggest question facing equity investors now isn’t so much rising bond yields, but rather the trajectory... Show More
Henderson Group: Fund flows continue to improve. Jason Orthman, Portfolio Manager at Hyperion Asset Management says We have been adding Henderson Group as fund flows continue to improve. Institutional flows have stabilised while retail inflows are growing strongly. Henderson has a strong European retail brand and the business is diversified... Show More
Pension funds and other large institutional investors are wasting enormous amounts of money on advice from investment consultants each year, according to academic research. On an equal-weighted basis, US equity funds recommended by consultants underperformed other funds by 1.1 per cent a year between 1999 and 2011, according to analysis... Show More