After what has been a very long run of strong market returns, it is only natural that investors’ attention starts to move toward when that run might end, and as each day passes, we move closer to the end of the cycle. This kind of sentiment understandably makes investors somewhat... Show More
Earlier this year I reviewed my top ten investment books of all time on Livewire. My goal was to share some of the perspectives of the world’s best investors. In this wire, I summarise those reviews to identify the top five characteristics of the world's best investors, the 'Super investors'. Show More
Scott Haslem started his career in 1991 as an economist working alongside the likes of Glenn Stevens and Bernie Fraser at the RBA. Today he is the Chief Investment Officer of Crestone Wealth Management, a firm that oversees ~$16 billion of assets on behalf of wealthy individuals and not for... 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
When hunting for undervalued companies, investors will inevitably encounter the dreaded ‘value trap’; a stock that’s so cheap that it looks too good to be true. As the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Show More
There continues to be evidence to support the Jamieson Coote Bonds team's thesis that investors should be re-assessing their portfolio construction and risk allocations to avoid unintended heightened bank/financial related exposure. JCB's approach is one that diversifies investors away from such exposures whilst providing a cornerstone defensive portfolio allocation. These... Show More
Inflows into fixed income globally have surged back this year, clocking in over $200BLN year to date according to various JCB contacts on global fixed income desks. The last time we saw inflows greater than this magnitude were 2009 and 2010 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. JCB... 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
Yesterday, in part one of this series, we discussed the importance of conducting due diligence on the strategy and process your investment manager. Apart from the initial investigative work, it also helps to know whether the manager is doing something genuinely different from others. After all, if your fund manager... Show More
Considering the strategy of an investment manager, which is essentially their investment approach and process, is a crucial element when assessing a fund manager, and one which is often underemphasised. While returns can and will fluctuate over time - and hence chasing past returns is a poor manager selection approach... Show More
Most direct investors hang up their hat due to a handful of heavy losses outweighing their gains, or net returns being too low to warrant the effort. This comes down to the fact a large volume of stocks available in the market already have most of the upside, or too... Show More
Risk Management and Beta: The two major types of risk when investing in equity markets are systematic and non-systematic risk. Non-systematic risk can be reduced through diversification while Systematic risk or market/macro risk can be reduced by picking stocks that changes the overall portfolio beta relative to the market to... Show More
Warning: this is a geeky post. This week we aren't discussing market movements nor another post on Woolworths (there's a opposing view on Livewire to read - that's what makes a market). No, this is a post on the mundane yet esoteric world of risk. It's a favourite interview question... Show More
Investing is not about "knowing" the future. It's about deciding what risks you feel comfortable with. Two events last week highlighted this very truth about investing and risk. One was the announcement by Orica (result below expectations plus impairment charges), the second one was the capital raising by ANZ Bank... Show More
Volatility is one of the key issues my retail clients have with the current market. Retail clients simply no longer have the appetite for large swings in the market, irrespective of larger returns. The attitude of investors has fundamentally shifted to preservation of capital. In finding a solution to my... Show More