News

The beginning of 2022 has marked a significant shift in the market paradigm, with the multi-decade tailwind of falling bond yields, which supported the valuation of ‘long duration’ assets like growth stocks, turning into a headwind. The impact has been far swifter than many expected.

Despite the widespread damage caused by Covid-19, the crisis accelerated the pace of technological advancements along with our ability to adapt to the latest changes. A survey by McKinsey & Co found that Covid-19 sped up the adoption of digital technologies by several years.

One of Australia’s premier alternative real estate investment managers, Qualitas, has secured a A$700m mandate from a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to invest in Australian commercial real estate private credit opportunities on behalf of a new investment vehicle.

With US quarterly reporting season nearly wrapped up, the trend is showing that earnings were better than expected this quarter.

In the latest quarterly data for FY22, both Perpetual and Pendal Group recorded fund outflows of $4.0 billion, Magellan lost $5.2 billion and US$11.9 billion exited Janus Henderson. GQG Partners was the one shining light, recording inflows of US$2.8 billion.

Last week’s effort by the Federal Reserve to curb inflation by raising US rates by another 75 basis points will likely see inflation decline in 2023 and will likely tip the economy into recession.

Among the most interesting comments I’ve heard thus far in 2022 was from an actively managed global fund manager who said something along the lines of “the challenge in 2022 won’t be in outperforming the index, but rather in generating a positive return.” This was evidenced by renowned value manager Platinum’s quarterly results, released last week.

The hunger for sustainable investing continues apace with Perennial winning a $100 million mandate from Mercer Investments for its Better Future small- and mid-cap strategy.

Following the reopening of global markets post-Covid, there was a sudden change in macro-economic conditions caused by massive stimulus spending and supply constraints. Central bankers were caught asleep at the wheel, but are now starting to talk tough.

For Australian investors, the value of fully franked dividends will play a bigger part in client portfolios as dividend payments return to pre-pandemic levels. But that all depends on whether Australia has a soft or hard landing.

The NFT market had a breakout year in 2021, and there’s still heightened interest in this digital asset class despite unfavourable market conditions. But are NFTs worth the money-or the hype?

While value has been the winner of the recent market rout and growth the loser, a zealous adherence to either style could see managers burned by economic downturn.