Welcome to 2021! I hope you had relaxing break and found time to reset after a tumultuous year. As we enter 2021 it seems that it’s more of the same. COVID-19, US elections (and inaugurations) and growing tensions between Australia and China continue to dominate the news headlines. Late last year we adjusted our asset […]
Efficient portfolio implementation is sometimes overlooked as a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than something that adds value to the investment process. This attitude is far less viable today given recent market volatility and product rationalisation, which have made the ability to implement timely portfolio changes essential for advisers and their clients. The market downturn in March prompted […]
The US election has come and gone (almost) and markets have reacted positively to the likelihood of a Democrat President and a Republican Senate, which would be able to moderate Democrat policies such as tax increases on corporations and capital gains. The election result, together with positive developments regarding a vaccine for Covid-19, have seen […]
US elections, daily pandemic updates, and political scandals are dominating the news headlines. In this world of hyper-connectivity and a constant flow of information, investors must be focused on their game plan and learn to tune out the noise of the crowd. As we witnessed during October’s grand final (AFL or NRL depending on your […]
In recent weeks we’ve seen increased market volatility. The Nasdaq, which represents the leading technology stocks in the US market, has seen a pull back following an incredible rally, and markets seem to be in a range-trading pattern. We all know the saying that when the US market sneezes, the rest of the world catches […]
Strategic asset allocation (SAA) is a critical element of your investment strategy. It refers to how much of your capital you allocate across various asset classes when taking a long-term view of your portfolio. SAA drives the bulk of your risk and return outcome over your investment time horizon, which means it’s critical to review […]
It has been an interesting month in markets. The S&P 500 Index reached 12 month highs with markets brushing off March’s COVID-19 panic. There have been many discussions about how narrow the rally has been in that a handful of stocks have driven the sharp rebound. In fact, just over 35% of stocks in the […]
Gold has been in the headlines over the last couple of weeks, as the price of gold has recently surpassed the much anticipated $2,000 per ounce mark. The gold spot price is up approximately 26% in USD for the year as at 30 June 2020 compared to the Australian equities market (S&P/ASX 200), which is […]
There continues to be a question as to whether markets are reflecting economic reality as they continue their upward trajectory. Within our investment committee process we remain focused on assessing asset valuations, where we are in the cycle and shorter-term sentiment indicators. We have observed a reduction in valuation opportunities within equities, given that share […]
The COVID-19 crisis is a living example of how an extraneous shock to economies can result in a rapid change in market dynamics and swings in sentiment as investors struggle to parse a constant flow of incoming news and data. In this environment, the investors need two things to weather the storm: firstly, the discipline […]
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