Opinion

With ETF providers offering a slew of products aimed at shipping exposures, the ‘esoteric legend’ of the Baltic Dry Index still has a place in the hearts and minds of investors.

After a punishing innings for her flagship ETF, ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood thinks investors need to stop living in the 70s. This time next year the Fed will be “running in the opposite direction” and deflation will dominate the market, she says.

The popular debate lacks nuance. Neither is foolproof but both can play a crucial role in building portfolio resistance and balancing the risk/reward dynamic.

While active can provides pockets of outperformance both here and globally, research from S&P Global suggests maintaining above-benchmark returns is difficult to maintain.

The ATO’s review of income tax returns show nine in 10 rental property owners are getting their return wrong. Property expense claims, as well as SMSF returns and crypto transactions, are all on the radar this year.

More cranes signal greater construction activity and point to a sound economic outlook. Property lender Thinktank examines the current skyline and what it means for the market.

Fear of an impending recession in the US has been hashed out for more than 18 months now, says Francis Gannon. The reasons are myriad, but not enough people are talking about what shape a recovery would take and how investors should position themselves.

The crippling doom loop between the banks and the real economy we saw in 2008 is unlikely to feature in the coming recession, says Ruffer’s Jamie Dannhauser, who is more concerned about a violent liquidation in financial markets.

Many people dream of achieving financial freedom and retiring early without realising that, with the right strategy, that could be their reality. Semi-retirement frees people to work less while progressing towards their financial goals, which may take less time than many expect, writes adviser Helen Nan.

Heightened volatility and market noise can be good things for the informed investors. That’s where capital markets assumptions come in, providing a starting point and a roadmap for portfolio construction primed to benefit from market dislocations, industry leaders said.

The recent re-embrace of active equity management by Australia’s sovereign wealth fund may herald a shift in the active-versus-passive debate, industry leaders said, as market volatility prompts greater dispersion and allows active management – at the right price – to prove its worth.

India’s booming population has many considering whether and how to get exposure to its market, despite its year-to-date underperformance. While it may not be the next China, India’s growth prospects remain attractive, driven by multiple tailwinds, and investors now have more points of access, Mason Stevens says.