The global trade game
The US/China trade confrontation is heating up and market analysts are scrambling to figure out what will come next. It's tempting to rely on historical experience but history is likely to be a poor guide.
Research Review: Performance, fees and active managers
Recent research examines the performance of active bond managers, and the impact of performance fees on returns of active equity funds and private equity funds.
| 1.00 CE | 09-04-18 | | More
Understanding how people spend their money in retirement
A retiree's spending will change over time. However, changes in spending profile over time are often ignored when it comes to retirement income planning.
Sustainability is crucial to infrastructure returns
Infrastructure assets have large environmental footprints. Incorporating ESG factors into the infrastructure investment process can improve risk-adjusted returns.
| 08-02-18 | | More
Disruptive technologies will revolutionise healthcare
Genomic medicine will radically change how diseases are diagnosed and treated. Healthcare valuations do not currently reflect the long-term opportunities in the sector.
Small caps are thriving in the global upswing
Around the world, smaller companies are benefitting from robust economic growth, low base rates and balance sheet flexibility. Investors should focus on opportunities in Japan and Europe.
Downsize now and rejoice at leisure
Government incentives may help to encourage downsizing but the decision itself may not be purely financial as recent research reveals.
| 0.50 CE | 14-02-18 | | More
Things (in the economics world) are broken
Every generation or so, things (in the economics world) break. Indeed, the history of the world's international monetary order is a history of change, occurring on average every 40 years. This current system is, therefore, long in the tooth.
Revisiting the importance of investment returns in retirement
About 30 years ago, Canadian researcher Don Ezra identified the ‘10/30/60’ rule - in retirement, 10% of income comes from contributions, 30% from earnings on investments before retirement, and 60% from investment earnings accrued after retirement. Does this rule still apply in Australia, given our current economic conditions?
| 19-03-18 | | More
Behavioural biases lead to unrecognised risk-taking
Behavioural biases - substitution, aggregation, and feedback risks, overconfidence, and limited attention and availability bias - distort money managers' perceptions and lead them to take risks they don’t see.
Economists vs scientists on long-term growth
Neither policymakers nor markets should bet on the past decade's slow growth carrying over to the next. The best bet is that AI and other technologies will have a much larger impact on growth than up to now.
Investors need growth equities as change accelerates
Structural change and the resulting earnings growth will always outrun interest rates in the long run, so as change continues to accelerate, investors need growth equities in their portfolio.
Latest US stimulus is a red flag
There is now a 50% chance that the US Federal Reserve will hike interest rates more sharply than markets expect, leading to a recession in the next one to two years.
Forum Fodder 13 Apr 2018
This week in Forum Fodder: El-Erian - global trade wars; Rebecca Sherlock – ESG and infrastructure; Bianca Ogden - disruptive tech in healthcare; Aaron Minney - retirement spending; Prof Ron Bird - performance, fees, active managers
Mark your diary
2018
20 Mar - farrelly's User Group (Syd)
18-21 Mar - CIMA IMAC (Syd)
11 Apr - Research Roundtable (Syd)
12 Apr - IMR Workshop (Syd)
25 May - Masterclass NZ (Akl)
17 Jul - Research Roundtable (Syd)
18 Jul - Research Roundtable (Mel)
22-23 Aug - Strategies Conference (Syd)
9-12 Sep - CIMA IMAC (Syd)
20-21 Sep - IMR Conference (Syd)
13-20 Oct - Research Roundtable Intl (US)
27 Nov - Research Roundtable (Syd)
28 Nov - Research Roundtable (Mel)
2017 Markets Summit - Webcast
Markets Summit 2017 featured a stellar lineup of international and local experts offering their best high conviction idea/thesis on the opportunities and risks ahead as the winds of change sweep through economies and asset classes - and the implications for portfolios.
| 01-03-17 | | More
2017 Finology Summit - Resources Kit
Finology Summit 2017 featured a stellar lineup of finology experts offering their best high conviction idea/thesis on how the winds of change are impacting how investors think and behave with respect to money, and how we can better relate with them (and help others who must do so).
| 01-03-17 | | More
2016 Markets Summit - Resources Kit
Markets Summit 2016 featured a stellar lineup of international and local experts offering their best high conviction idea/thesis around the Markets Summit theme - is it deja vu (all over again)? - and the resulting portfolio construction decision(s) that must be made.
| 18-02-16 | | More
Backgrounder: Cyclical? Structural? Secular?
This Backgrounder defines the terms "cyclical", "structural"" and "secular" and provides examples, in order to increase the clarity of debate about what's really driving markets.
| 09-02-15 | | More
2016 Conference - Webcast
Conference 2016 featured a stellar lineup of international and local experts offering their best high conviction idea/thesis around the the friction between short-term and long-term investing imperatives - and the portfolio construction decisions that must be made.
| 30-08-16 | | More
Conference 2015: the director’s cut
PortfolioConstruction Forum Strategies Conference 2015 featured a carefully selected faculty of more than 35 international and local portfolio construction experts offering their best high conviction ideas about critical portfolio "crossroads". Here are the highlights.
| 31-08-15 | | More
Backgrounder: The long and short of it
Managing the fundamental friction between short-term and long-term investing imperatives is a key challenge when building portfolios. This Backgrounder explores some of the key concepts and debates.
| 19-08-16 | | More