Macroeconomic conditions continue to decelerate, consistent with our ongoing thesis that we have entered the end of this cycle. From here, we expect economic growth to moderate and employment conditions to weaken. Inflation should continue to ease but at a slower pace than market expects, with risks to upside with stage 3 tax cuts likely […]
The Multi-Asset portfolios returned solid absolute returns over the December quarter in the order of 3.9% to 5.2% depending on the risk profile. In a relative sense, while the Conservative and Defensive portfolios outperformed their respective FE peer group benchmarks, the Balanced, Growth and High Growth risk profiles struggled to keep pace. The embedded risk […]
With equity and bond markets both retracing for the quarter, the Lonsec Multi-Asset portfolios delivered negative absolute returns, however they delivered strong relative performance, outperforming the peer group over the quarter and for the 12 months to September. Our focus on quality investments and diversification supported portfolio performance as volatility returned to markets. Deanne Baker explains how the […]
The Retirement portfolios maintain a slight defensive bias. The business cycle is entering a more challenging period, with tighter financial conditions and softening consumer trends presenting headwinds for growth assets in particular. We have been increasing duration within the portfolio. Deanne Baker explains how the Retirement portfolios performed over the September quarter. The information in this […]
The much-anticipated slowdown in economic growth appears to be upon us, with GDP in Australia slowing to 2.3%. While only slightly below long-term trend GDP at this point, it is the direction and speed of travel that counts. Discretionary spending has eased (-1.0%), as cost of living pressures finally hit the consumer. Perhaps not surprisingly, […]
The Retirement portfolios’ 12-month performance remains first quartile, and above the peer group benchmark with the embedded risk control in the portfolio protecting retirees from the worst of the year’s volatility. The structural overweight to Australian equities (to capture the benefits of franking credits) detracted this month as domestic equities were unable to keep pace […]
Over the 12 months to June 30, the portfolios delivered solid absolute returns. This very respectable result masked significant intra-year volatility. The 2023 financial year was characterised by raging inflation, the most aggressive rate rises in history, the re-pricing of all major asset classes, significant shifts in style from growth to value (and back again), […]
Bond markets across a number of developed countries including the US, UK and Germany are currently pricing in a recession. Global stock indices are close to, if not at, all-time highs. What exactly are the capital markets trying to tell us about the state of the economy? Stock prices are a well-known leading indicator of […]
Global equities have rallied over the last 6 months, with the MSCI AC World ex Australia TR Index AUD returning 7.5% since the start of the year. The recovery in global risk assets has however, been quite narrow and heavily concentrated in a small number of US mega stocks. In fact, if we zoom in on […]
Inflation is likely to ease substantially in the coming months as base effects roll off and tighter credit conditions hit consumption and aggregate demand. Services inflation, rent rises and wage pressures however persist, meaning inflation could remain sticky and above central bank target ranges for some time. Financial conditions are therefore likely to remain tight […]
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