Fodder kicks off with Mohammed El-Erian warning against using history as a guide to this latest spat of trade wars. Colonial First State Global Asset Management's Rebecca Sherlock makes the case for incorporating ESG factors into infrastructure investing, while Platinum Asset Management's Bianca Ogden explains why advances in genomic medicine are favourable for healthcare stocks. Challenger's Aaron Minney shows that Australian retirees' spending profile changes over time with implications for retirement income planning. And finally, Professor Ron Bird reviews recent research on active investment management, performance, and fees.
All the best for another week's continuing education - Graham

QUOTE OF THE WEEK...

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. - Winston Churchill

UPCOMING LIVE CE...

Philosophy | Markets | Strategies | Investing | Finology
Strategies Conference 2018 - "Future-proof portfolios"
Portfolio construction is an exercise in long-term thinking, seeking to meet investors' distant goals. Strategies Conference 2018 will facilitate debate on a selection of contemporary and emerging portfolio construction strategies, with particular emphasis on designing future-proof portfolios.
MARK YOUR DIARY! 22-23 August 2018  |  More

LATEST ONLINE CE...

Markets
The global trade game
The US/China trade confrontation is heating up as market analysts scramble to figure out what will come next. History is likely to be a poor guide.
Mohamed El-Erian, Allianz | More

Philosophy | Markets
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.
Rebecca Sherlock, Colonial First State Global Asset Management | More

Markets | Investing
Disruptive technologies will revolutionise healthcare
Genomic medicine will radically change how diseases are diagnosed and treated. Healthcare valuations don't currently reflect long-term opportunities in the sector.
Bianca Ogden, Platinum Asset Management | More

Strategies | Finology
Understanding how people spend their money in retirement
A retiree's spending profile changes over time. Assuming a constant level spending is like ignoring the topography of a map.
Aaron Minney, Challenger | More

Investing
Research Review: Performance, fees and active managers
Recent research reviews the performance of active bond managers, and the impact of performance fees on returns of active equity funds and then for private equity funds.
Professor Ron Bird, UTS | 1.00 CE | More

Not bonds?
It would be hard to argue with Professor Shiller, however a couple questions come to mind after a cursory read. Is this a bond? It sounds more like an equity investment, rising in value in good times and falling in bad times...
Doug Turek, Professional Wealth | More

RECENT ONLINE CE...

Markets | Investing
Making the case for sovereign GDP-linked bonds
The time has come for national governments around the world to start issuing their debt in a new form, linked to their countries' resources.
Robert J. Shiller, PhD, Yale University | More

Markets
Things (in the economics world) are broken
The history of the international monetary order is a history of change, occurring on average every 40 years. This current system is, therefore, long in the tooth.
Chris Watling, Longview Economics | 0.50 CE | More

Strategies
Revisiting the importance of investment returns in retirement
About 30 years ago, Don Ezra identified the 10/30/60 rule for what drives retirement income. Does this rule still apply in Australia?
David Knox, PhD, Mercer | More

Finology
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.
Joanne Earl, PhD, Macquarie University | 0.50 CE | More

Markets
Small caps are thriving in the global upswing
Smaller companies are benefitting from robust economic growth, low base rates and balance sheet flexibility. Investors should focus on Japan and Europe.
Ed Rosenfeld, Lazard Asset Management | More

True diversification is key
Well written, Michael - we are often attempting to help advisers understand the importance of combining lowly correlated assets (that have positive long-term drift) to achieve more robust portfolio outcomes...
Andrew Fairweather, Winston Capital Partners | More

Finology
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.
Terrance Odean, University of California, Berkeley | 0.50 CE | More

Markets
Economists vs scientists on long-term growth
Neither policymakers nor markets should be betting on the slow growth of the past decade carrying over to the next. The best bet is that AI and other new technologies will eventually come to have a much larger impact on growth than they have up to now.
Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University | More

Philosophy | Strategies | Investing
Diversification - what it is and is not
The concept of diversification may seem to be second nature. However, some of its fundamentals are often misused and sometimes misrepresented.
Michael Furey, Delta Research & Advisory | 1 comment | More

Markets | Investing
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.
Nick Griffin, Munro Partners | 0.50 CE | More

Markets
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.
Brett Gillespie, Ellerston Capital | More

Efficiency argument misses some important elements
The characterisation of blockchain as being about technological efficiency is not a sufficient way to think about it...
Julian McCormack, Platinum Asset Management | More

Crypto...
I'd love to know how the 33.3% intend to do that???
Glynn Phillips, Falconer Advisers | More

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 Portfolio Construction Forum. Just follow us on Twitter to hear as soon as we release new articles on portfolioconstructionforum.edu.au and when registration opens for our onstage programs.

Connect with me on LinkedIn
We also let my LinkedIn network know as soon as we release new articles on portfolioconstructionforum.edu.au and when registration opens for our live programs. If LinkedIn is more your thing than Twitter, I'd welcome you connecting. And of course, I'd welcome having an offline direct conversation with you any time.