insurance

I recently went to New Zealand to research the Financial sector. I was visiting banks and insurance companies, as well as seeing the regulators and getting insights into the NZ economy more broadly. Many Australian financial companies own material NZ based businesses, so it is important to keep on top... Show More

There have been so many results which have provoked share price volatility, with the usual mix of outstanding results such as CSL balanced by disappointing results like Vocus. Or ones like Boral, where management convinced the market the outlook is bright despite a weak performance in key parts of the... Show More

We use derivatives across the majority of our portfolios to improve performance and / or to reduce portfolio volatility. They help us consistently beat the market over time and improve the overall flexibility within our portfolios. We are almost entirely ‘sellers’ of options, and the bulk of our transactions are... Show More

QBE Insurance Group Limited (QBE) is a large and complicated entity. In fact, the scope of the business and the nature of insurance make it quite hard to understand the business completely. This uncertainty creates buying opportunities, and as Graph 1 shows, the stock has been a large beneficiary of... Show More

Having just consumed Buffett’s most recent letter to Berkshire Hathaway investors, I thought I’d share some of the most interesting parts with Livewire readers. Buffett is clearly not familiar with the concept of ‘talking your own book’ (an industry term for unabashedly talking up one’s own investments), happily taking swipes... Show More

Queensland based financial services group Suncorp (SUN) has posted a softer than hoped 1.3% lift in net profit to $537m for the six months ended 31 Dec 16 For more Reporting Season coverage, please visit https://www.commsec.com.au/reportingseason Show More

In our view, investors should position themselves for a rising interest rate environment in 2017. Developed market (DM) economies will be leading growth in 2017, taking over from emerging markets (EM) which have previously supported global growth rates. The key to the DM’s recovery will be how the US markets... Show More

Regular readers will know I’m somewhat of a Buffett-watcher, not so much for stock picks, but for what we can learn about his approach to business and investing. Buffett is known for his love of insurance companies, with Berkshire owning a range of insurance companies, from GEICO to Berkshire Hathaway... 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

An insurance company is essentially two businesses – the underwriting business, and the funds management business, explains Charles Leyland, Managing Director of Leyland Asset Management. The underwriters make money by collecting more premiums than are paid out in claims, while the funds management business makes money by investing those funds... Show More