G'day

This week's Fodder is a bit different, given the end of financial year is looming tomorrow evening and along with it many of our Members' continuing professional development reporting period.

So we've picked 15 online CPD accredited videos, papers and perspectives (offering a total 11.75 CPD points), from our onstage, masterclass and online programs, and spanning our three pillars of portfolio construction - Markets, Strategies and Investing. Absorb them at your desk, sit the CE quiz, and your accreditation will appear instantly in MyCE (where all your CPD accreditation earned with us is available 24/7). 

Whether you need to catch up on CPD accreditation by 30 June or you simply missed these 15 key continuing education pieces when we first published them, now's your chance to catch up...

First, we highlight five "Markets" perspectives (each still VERY apt for current times) including a look at geopolitics and investing, the "inevitable" breakup of the Eurozone, the growing health of the US economy, falling bond market liquidity, and of course, the case study for Eurozone strain, Greece.

Next are six "Strategies" papers - Ibbotson's seminal paper on the importance of asset allocation (this should be mandatory for anyone building portfolios); whether a bucket approach is better than a rebalancing approach for managing sequencing risk; how retirees should manage risk; how people's Time Perspective influences their retirement planning behaviour; the surprising results of a study into lifestyle creep and saving pay increases; and, whether to hedge or not to hedge currency in portfolios.

We've then chosen four "Investing" papers - the role of investment philosophy in evaluating fund managers; how to go about assessing manager risk and risk-adjusted fund performance; financial ratio analysis; and, an "Undiscovered Fund" investing in Australian equities with a growth bias.

Now is a great time to log in to MyCE to see all the CPD accreditation you've earned with us, and cross check that you've let your compliance people know about it.

All the best for another great week's learning! - Graham

P.S. CPD accreditation for Symposium NZ 2015 will be available later this week or early next week. FPA Australia is flat out with the Australian financial year looming, but our Symposium CPD application is first in line on Wednesday.

LATEST...

Markets
A primer on geopolitics and investing
Does geopolitics have investment implications? In short - yes - and this paper provides a clear understanding of both geopolitics and its clear link to investment markets.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum | 1.25 CE | Research

Markets
Break-up of the Eurozone is inevitable
A currency union absent of full political union is inherently unstable. After the first country exits the eurozone, markets will attack the next most vulnerable.
Bruce Campbell, Pyrford International | 0.50 CE | Resources
* Winner of the Delegate's Pick Award at Markets Summit 2015

Markets
The US stands out in a low growth world
De-leveraging, widening inequality and structural reforms limit growth in developed markets. The US is the most advanced in addressing these challenges.
Ronald Temple, Lazard Asset Management | 0.50 CE | Resources
* Rated in the top 3 presentations by Markets Summit 2015 delegates

Markets
Bond markets lock up and lock out returns
Bond markets were once the world’s most liquid. Today, trading even $5 million in bonds can be difficult. Funds may limit withdrawals and hold larger cash balances.
Scott Weiner, Payden & Rygel | 0.50 CE | Resources
* Rated in the top 3 presentations by Markets Summit 2015 delegates

Markets
Greece - a case study for increasing Eurozone strain
2015 will be a year of huge uncertainty about the future of the Euro. These uncertainties are likely to pose a fundamental challenge to investing in the Eurozone.
Charles Dallara, Partners Group | 0.50 CE | Resources
* Rated in the top 5 presentations by Markets Summit 2015 delegates

Strategies
The importance of asset allocation
In this seminal paper, Ibbotson confirms that after the decision to actually invest is made, asset allocation and manager selection are equally important.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum | 0.50 CE | Research

Strategies
Managing sequencing risk - buckets v rebalancing
In managing sequence of returns risk, we may not be giving simple rebalancing nearly the credit it deserves to accomplish similar or better than more complex approaches.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group | 0.75 CE | Research paper

Strategies
How should retirees manage risk in a DC world?
This paper offers a surprising amount of info and interesting ways of framing investment issues in retirement, and some good analysis of longevity risk.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum | 0.75 CE | Research

Strategies
A matter of time
Have you ever wondered about why some people plan for retirement and other people don’t? Whether people focus on the past, the present or the future - their Time Perspective - influences their retirement planning behaviour.
Dr Joanne Earl, UNSW | 1.00 CE | Research

Strategies
Big raises and lifestyle creep
The surprising result of a recent study is that the "conventional" view that earnings rise steadily (above inflation) throughout our careers is not accurate. Good spending habits established early on can make an astounding difference to wealth over a lifetime.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group | 0.50 CE | Research

Strategies
Currency management - to hedge or not to hedge?
Currency risk is a significant issue for Australian investors. This paper summarises the research on optimal hedge ratios for international equities exposures.
Aberdeen Asset Management | 0.50 CE | Research

Investing
The role of investment philosophy in evaluating investment managers
Investment managers have a better chance of adding alpha if they have a clear philosophy of how they generate it, according to this research.
John Minahan, Kees Koedijk & Alfred Slager | 1.50 CE | Research

Investing
Assessing manager risk & risk-adjusted performance
Fund research is something of a dark art - there is little available on how to go about it. But here are two great papers covering qual and quant analysis of funds and managers.
Deborah Kidd, CFA | 0.75 CE | Research

Investing
Financial ratio analysis
Even if it's not your intention to recommend stocks, understanding financial analysis in general and ratios in particular, can enhance your ability to analyse equity funds.
Pamela Peterson Drake, James Madison University | 1.25 CE | Research

Investing
Undiscovered Fund: Active Au equities with a growth bias
An actively managed fund, positioned towards companies with earnings growth potential greater than the market's expectations.
Zenith Investment Partners | 1.00 CE | Research

PLUS...

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Conference 2015 will facilitate debate on the markets, strategies and investing with particular focus on portfolio “crossroads” - contemporary investment dilemmas and the resulting portfolio construction decisions. We'd welcome you joining us!
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