Global stocks have enjoyed the best start to the year in almost three decades. Does this bode well for the rest of 2019? History suggests it does. Since 1928, a good January/February has led to a positive calendar year over 80% of the time. However, history does not always rhyme... Show More
How good are you at reading people? How about a large frightened animal? It’s an interesting question, in today’s tech driven social world, to consider the skill of “reading” the situation. Is it being lost? Does it matter? Hold that thought, and consider the following. You are asked to step... Show More
Quantitative easing (QE) is the process by which central banks inject money directly into the financial system, usually through the purchase of government bonds using printed or electronically created money. This is intended to stimulate economic activity. Show More
A good chart distils terabytes of data into a small image that delivers a big message. And to cherry-pick the messages investors need to hear most right now, we asked some of Australia’s top managers to nominate one chart above all others. Mik Case from Schroders and Chris Rands at... Show More
Emerging markets were volatile throughout 2018, especially during quarter four as they sold off and took some valuation froth out of the market. This has continued into 2019 thus far, but as investors, it’s important to step back and take a longer-term view of the situation. I recently sat down... Show More
January 1996. My wife was 8 months pregnant with our first child. I was a proprietary trader at Bankers Trust (had been since 1991), meaning I took macro views on interest rates and currencies. Indeed, very similar to what I do now, but with the bank’s capital rather than investors’... Show More
While it is easy for investors to conclude that Australia’s run of economic growth is coming to an end with a housing slowdown, a closer balanced analysis of the economy would indicate otherwise. We believe that Australia again will transition growth to other segments in 2019 and reach its 28th... Show More
There is no doubt the Australian economy was weaker in late 2018 than it was during the first half of the year. It seems to have kicked off 2019 on a similarly weak note. Recent economic news has been unambiguously poor and it follows the dismal GDP results released last... Show More
In October the whole firm was rounded up and marched over the road to the grand ballroom of the Wentworth Hotel to hear about the launch of the new US Technology Fund. And I must say it sounded very exciting. Our US equity portfolio manager outlined the penetration of technology... Show More
We are all familiar with the Maginot line. A fortified defence on the border of France and Germany, built by France mostly in the 1930’s to prevent a German invasion. Show More
