When it comes to investing, Australians forego their ‘globetrotter’ reputation and rarely look past local companies. In consumption, however, we are far worldlier and have embraced international brands such as Apple, Samsung, Google, BP and Toyota. Show More
Investors in self-managed super funds (SMSFs) don’t seem to ascribe to traditional approaches of modern portfolio theory. According to its architect, Harry Markowitz, investors can design an ‘optimal’ portfolio to maximise returns by taking on risk – and risk can be managed through diversification across asset classes. Show More
Broker calculators have been running red hot over the past week working through the implications of the large cash balances of some of the world’s largest companies, now that Apple (which is now up 10% in the past month) has told everyone that it is going to undertake what looks... Show More
The announcement by the Australian Labor Party (“the ALP”) of its policy shift to stop the cash rebate of franked dividends was predictable … and is alarming. Show More
“The last 10 years have been about building a world that is mobile-first. In the next 10 years, we will shift to a world that is artificial intelligence (AI) first.” - Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer, Alphabet (Google) Show More
The CommSec SMSF Trading Trends Report is an in-depth exploration of the online trading behaviour of SMSF investors, released every six months. SMSFs are a significant investor segment, representing 30% of all superannuation investments in Australia’s $2.3 trillion superannuation sector. The report is based on a detailed analysis of the... Show More
Amazon on Friday announced the US $14b acquisition of Wholefoods in the US, which has correctly been understood by the Australian market as a reason for the share prices of Coles and Woolworths to fall – just like competitors Walmart and Walgreen did in the US. Show More
On Friday the 9th June, the AFR ran an excellent article on the new breed of superannuation funds hitting the Australian market place, most of whom are targeted towards Gen-Y and millennials, Australia’s most populous generation. “Inside the multi-billion dollar battle for Millennials’ super”, which you can access here, looked... Show More
What next for Snapchat? After a disastrous earnings call, the stock fell 25% and came within 25c of breaching its issue price of US$17. Those that didn’t take the opportunity, brief though it was, to sell at US$24 might be feeling nervous. It is hovering around US$20 now, following the... Show More
The Economist this week makes reference to data as the new oil – the fuel on which the new economy runs. Last week, we made observations about knowledge networks, with commentary on how central they had become to business, and by way of proof, noted the change in make-up of... Show More
With interest rates at record lows, interest in precious metals continues to grow. Many investors are curious about the best way to access gold, with some preferring to use gold ETFs, whilst others prefer to buy direct physical metal (bars or coins) via a physical bullion dealer that is directly... Show More
Amazon and Google, two of the world’s top ten biggest listed companies, jumped around 4% in the aftermarket on the back of above-market quarterly revenue numbers released overnight; they showed organic growth of 23% and 22% respectively. These numbers are significant, but it’s important to contextualise them with reference to... Show More
Could a television show about Hugh Hefner, the Playboy founder, form part of a competitive threat to Australian retailers Coles and Woolworths? Show More
Tesla blew through car production expectations this quarter – overnight it released production figures showing it had made just over 25,000 vehicles by 31 March – putting it on track to make 500,000 cars by 2018, according to the major shareholder, Elon Musk. The stock price is up 28% since... Show More
Not really discussed in all the coverage on fintech in Australia is the impact of the Revised Payment Service Directive (PSD2) in the UK and Europe, forcing banks there to open their platforms to non-bank service providers from next year. Show More
Adrian Turner nailed it yesterday at the AFR Summit, saying that 40 per cent of Australia's jobs will disappear in 10 years. "The fourth industrial revolution is under way and the winners will be so far ahead of the losers, Australia has no choice but to pivot to the new... Show More
GICS classifications (energy, auto, retail) are the way most fund managers construct portfolios. This isn't good. Companies that disrupt individual sectors rarely come from within the sector itself. Google and Facebook are not in a media index, but they are clearly media companies. Show More
Over the last 40 years, investors have enjoyed a golden era, able to generate returns of close to 7.50% p.a. in investment grade credit, and over 10% p.a. in equities, with this historical outperformance driven by a handful of factors including rising debt, huge increases in female labour force participation,... Show More
The Apple shareprice popped 39% in the past year, including almost 10% following the result. This has less to do with the underlying numbers, which actually weren’t that great (more on that later), but is more about excitement around the iPhone 8, which will be released for the tenth anniversary... Show More
You wouldn’t expect the world’s most successful company not to be thinking seriously about what it should do next. Here are two things. Show More