Friday 01 April 2016

Specialist, independent investment continuing education & certification for portfolio construction practitioners

Have your say
When I moved to Australia in the 1990s, I was often struck by how ready Australians were to question anyone who set themselves up as an expert - healthy scepticism seemed to be a national trait. Which is why it's always struck me as odd that so few Members question the views of our Faculty each week. But not so over the past two weeks - it's been great to see Tim's and Michael's articles on sequencing risk stirring up a storm of comment from Members challenging their reasoning and conclusions. It's what makes this a "Forum". On a related note, we received a lot of questions from delegates at Markets Summit for the Faculty, and we've now posted our pick of the questions and the Faculty has begun to answer them. You'll find the Q&A on the session microsites in the Markets Summit 2016 Resources Kit. As well as earning CE from "attending" the sessions online, you can add your own questions for the Faculty to (you'll get an automatic notification when you've been answered).
All the best for a great weekend's continuing education - Graham
P.S. We've seen some great April Fools jokes today. Here's my pick.

LATEST...

A global (quant) perspective on the Australian equities
One might expect that Australia's high dividend yield, currently lower PE Ratio and generally smaller companies means the Australian equity market behaves like a global small cap with a value style tilt. Is that true?
Michael Furey, Delta Research & Advisory | 0.25 CE  | Research

The Fed’s New Neutral rate
No one expected the FOMC to change its policy rate from 0.25% to 0.50% this month - but this month's meeting still provided plenty of unusual twists that warrant serious thought.
Dr Robert Gay, Fenwick Advisers | Opinion

When things fall apart
The economic theories of the pre-crisis period – rational expectations, efficient markets, the neutrality of money – must be revised. Politicians must encourage a revolution in economic thinking.
Anatole Kaletsky, GaveKal | Opinion

It’s the end of EU-rope as we know it
The EU has been in crisis for many years. But you ain't seen nothing yet. 2016 will change the nature of the EU and it might well signify deja-vu, the end of Europe's process of political and economic integration.
Oliver Hartwich, The New Zealand Initiative | 0.50 CE  | 1 comment | Resources
* Rated in the top 5 presentations by Markets Summit 2016 delegates

Capturing the governance premium in less developed markets
In the last 10 years, many companies from emerging economies have closed the corporate governance gap relative to their developed market counterparts. Such companies find themselves in a sweet spot.
Mugunthan Siva, India Avenue Investment Management | Opinion

Member comments
Prolonged low returns
Tim, your point about the prolonged period of low returns is bang on the money but your implicit solution to stay 100% invested in a volatile market does not stand the test...
Aaron Minney, Challenger | Comment

You are correct but...
Unfortunately, the historic examples of sequencing risk at its worst has always been during the most volatile of equity markets...
Michael Furey, Delta Research & Advisory | Comment

S&P/ASX 200
I'd like to see this scenario run with the 40% one year dip replaced with the actual S&P/ASX 200 returns starting just prior to the GFC...
Brendan Swift, Collaborative Media & Publishing | Comment

The question is how...?
... how much pain will be endured to bring global debt back down to normal levels?  Are talking a Great Depression type proportion or a more gradual reduction over, say, 10 or 20 years?
Stuart Bailey, KAS Financial Advisers | Comment

Long-term returns
I strongly disagree Michael. I enjoy and appreciate your work on long-term investment matters but I believe you have inputted unrealistic expectations and then come to a poor conclusion.
Mark Hayden, Hayden Financial Services | Comment

Fasten your seatbelt for a volatile 2016
Thanks, some great questions here – I appreciate the opportunity to respond. 1. If the best case is that the global economy "muddles through", why would anyone own equities?
Brett Lewthwaite, Macquarie Investment Management | Comment

Keep up to date - follow us @PortfolioForum
There's no need to wait until our weekly Forum Fodder email to know what's new with PortfolioConstruction Forum. Just follow us on Twitter to hear as soon as we release new articles on PortfolioConstruction.com.au and registration opens for our live programs.