Is Amazon a threat to Woolworths? Can active managers deliver value in large-cap shares? And where are the most defensive earnings on the ASX? Following our quarterly investor update, Perpetual's Head of Equities, Paul Skamvougeras, answered a range of questions from Livewire's editors on current market issues.
Questions addressed:
- Can larger Australian shares fund managers still add value?
- Where are the most defensive earnings on the ASX today?
- What’s the biggest red flag when you’re assessing a management team?
- What are you hearing from company management teams?
- Is Amazon a threat to Woolworths?
- Is there a stock where you’re thinking differently to the rest of the market?
Watch the full video below for his answers, including two stock ideas from the larger end of the market.
Comments
Ivan Pyvovarenko
The Amazon threat to Woolworth is over rated. The whole concept of Amazon buying a bricks in mortar business in the US is a testament to conventional retailing. If the threat of Amazon is lower pricing - I wonder how it will achieve this with suppliers who are already selling all their products to the duopoly and have little incentive to offer the same product to a newcomer at a lower rate. Online retailing has been a feature of Coles and Woolworth for some time now and the only likely bricks and mortar target would be the weakest link in retail - Metcash. It's also unclear how Amazon would overcome Australian logistical challenges with a nimble footprint to pose a credible threat to the duopoly. Perhaps in the years to come Amazon will admit it's folly here like Uber did in China and Russia as an example.