equities

ASX finishes flat, border closures hit travel, AGL Energy downgrades, weaker open ahead The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) finished flat to begin the week, with news that US politicians finally agreed on a USD$900 billion stimulus package not enough to offset the NSW outbreak and subsequent border closures. Every sector was lower apart from materials and consumer staples, with the latter benefitting…

Sustainability focused investing has been gathering pace over the last decade, with equity funds attracting a lion’s share of interest from investors focused on ESG.  According to IMF data as of mid-June last year, fixed income strategies account for less than one-fifth of the assets under management.  Yet, the bond market is almost double the…

What is the value of an investment portfolio?  Expectations today are that one can log into a system and have a reasonably accurate snapshot of wealth, allowing for a few days or possibly monthly pricing differential for some asset classes. That may create a misleading picture. As has been well publicised, industry super funds are…

This is not the time to make bold statements. We can test the water on which asset class is now relatively (noting that phrase) attractive, but inevitably hedge the bet on the possibility things will not be as anticipated. Valuations are in fresh air. We don’t know what earnings might look like, nor is the…