We have written on the China “marvel” before and continue to scratch our head on this enigma and the sustainability of it. You have to give them huge credit for what they have achieved – the greatest economic expansion in history improving the lives of so many people in a... Show More
It is always dangerous to fight the Fed and that is what we have been doing this year. World economic growth continues to disappoint despite the benefit of lower energy costs. Corporate earnings in most parts of the world have continued to fall and now the US is experiencing falling... Show More
One of the continuing influences affecting the Australian equity market is the sober outlook for world growth. Recent economic numbers confirm the world’s economies will continue in a low-growth environment. Our strategy remains... Be patient; invest for the long term, not for the fast gain. The market’s currently overpaying for... Show More
Will the great American equity rally soon begin to stall? The US share market has staged a remarkable rally since it hit lows in 2009, but with the American economy now adding jobs at a stunning pace, a normalisation of interest rates has become inevitable. We believe that normalisation of... Show More
Going into 2015, the US looks to be the place to be. Australian Ethical observes indicators that track the production and movement of goods through an economy's supply chain to gauge current trading conditions. For November, they see the US pulling further ahead economically, Europe looking brittle, China and Australia... Show More
Six long-term global investment themes. Andy Gardner, Portfolio Manager and Analyst at AMP Capital, shares his views on the trend towards thematic investing. He says the approach is likely to be best suited to investors with long time horizons as well as looking at exposure to international equities. Gardner says,... Show More
There are three big, under-valued global stocks that we like at the moment. Australian investors should be seeking exposure to international shares to diversify away from the weakening $A and economy, and away from the big resource and bank stocks that dominate the market. But they should avoid buying markets... Show More
Atlantis Resources is building the world's first multi-megawatt tidal stream project in the UK. It is not widely appreciated that tidal turbines have already produced in excess of 10 gigawatts hours of grid power over the past few years and the space has significant government support. We consider Atlantis a... Show More
Peter Switzer had us on his show last night - The Switzer Report on SkyNews. We discussed the ANU's decision to divest from certain companies, why coal is struggling because of secular headwinds and how our approach to investing is driving our success at Australian Ethical Investment. http://www.skynews.com.au/video/program_switzer/2014/10/20/switzer-segment-four-monday.html Show More
Our recent trip to Munich, Germany suggests there is some room for optimism for the largest economy in Europe. 55% of surveyed companies said current trading conditions are positive versus 20% who said negative. This is in contrast to the more widely held view that Europe has fallen to pieces.... Show More
Australian Ethical updates its Global Energy Policy assessment. Energy policy leadership seems to be shifting towards the two largest emitters in the world: China and the US. China seems adamant to kill coal and the US trumpeted its leadership at the just concluded UN Climate Summit. The RET review in... Show More
How far does the market have to fall before value emerges? So far this month, the Australian market has corrected just over 4 per cent. A number of factors have driven the falls, including themes that we have been talking about for some time such as slumping iron ore prices,... Show More
What caught our attention this month was China committed to a national carbon market by 2016 and that India seems to be following China by turning away from coal. We are seeing greater bipartisan support for the US shale oil and gas industry as both sides see the enormous economic... Show More
Trash-To-Treasure, 3 Companies Making It Big From Garbage. Urban mining is a popular term used to describe the stripping and reusing of valuable metals mostly from electronic waste. At its core is the basic principle of recycling and acknowledges that it is cheaper and more efficient to re-use materials than... Show More
Australian Ethical updates its MACROECONOMIC ASSESSMENT. The disconnect between profit growth and valuations has become untenable which has resulted in the International Equities Trust moving to a defensive posture. The global economy remains in muted growth but focus should be on geopolitics and stock market valuations. The US recovery continues... Show More
Australian Ethical updates its GLOBAL ENERGY ASSESSMENT. Highlights include: 1) Distributed generation gaining momentum with the Arizona Public Service Company wanting to enter the solar rooftop business. 2) Europe's energy policy continues to swing towards the moderates. 3) China continues to pull out the stops to tackle its appalling air... Show More
Following up on our nine reasons why coal will continue to struggle, Peter Switzer's interview gave us a chance to delve a bit deeper into the topic. Globally, the trend towards a lower emission intensive power sector is unmistakable. http://www.skynews.com.au/video/program_switzer/2014/08/18/switzer-segment-two-monday.html Show More
Nine reasons why coal is struggling (and will continue to do so). The price of coal has fallen 51% since peaking in 2011. We believe the oversupply in the seaborne trade of thermal coal faces many negative secular factors on top of some normal cyclical ones. Importantly, we are wondering... Show More
The disconnect between valuations and earnings growth is becoming untenable. The forward PE on the S&P500 is approaching its pre-GFC high yet sales growth remains elusive (this could be said for many markets around the world). Earnings growth to date has largely come from cost cutting but we all know... Show More
The world's largest three economies are giving mixed signals - the US is clearly improving, China has stabilised and avoided a hard landing and Japan looks to be in contraction territory once again. Clearly, the US growth rate is overstated with the large rise in inventories, but the rise in... Show More