Around this time a year ago, about 85% of economists and market analysts (including me) expected the US and global economy would suffer a recession. But the opposite mostly happened. One must approach any 2024 forecast with humility.

What's new with our live and on-demand continuing education, accreditation and certification programs.

What's new with our live and on-demand continuing education, accreditation and certification programs.

In the wake of the most rapid and material rise in global interest rates for 50 years, we could be forgiven for scratching our heads at what has happened over 2023. Has monetary policy lost its mojo? Or has 2023 been a "head fake"?

Highlight our upcoming live CE programs, and all of the complimentary on-demand CE-accredited resources published over recent months.

This lecture argues that client behaviour profiling should be a critical first step of the financial advice process. It examines why ethical client profiling - leveraging off psychology, behavioural finance, ethics, and the financial advice process - is necessary to successfully deliver consistent positive client outcomes. NOTE: This lecture is available for purchase - go to https://portfolioconstructionforum.edu.au/on-the-hunt/

As finance ministers and central bankers convened in Marrakesh for the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in mid October, what surprised veteran analysts the most was the expected calamity that hasn't happened - an emerging-market debt crisis.

What's new with our live and on-demand continuing education, accreditation and certification programs.

Could Japan become the world's next great growth story? Warren Buffett seems to think so and the IMF expects the Japanese economy to grow by 1.4% in 2023. But the Japanese economy could also be a ticking time bomb.

Focussing on what we know about the world we live in and figuring out what it might mean for investing is much less glamourous and newsworthy than the prediction game, but it's potentially more rewarding.

What's new with our live and on-demand continuing education, accreditation and certification programs.

What's new with our live and on-demand continuing education, accreditation and certification programs.

August 1982 was a banner month. It saw the dawn of a new regime for investors – and for record labels – that was to run for 40 years. But in 2022, cash rates finally ended their 40-year decline. And the world turned for investors.

Private Equity pooled returns have been attractive while also less volatile than investing in a single fund or fund-of-funds. Enabling investors to "buy the private market" would complement portfolios just like in public markets.

Small Caps have underperformed large cap peers in recent times however cyclical factors today and a rebound in domestic risk sets up for the reemergence in Australian Smalls.

This is Part Three of our annual three-part Strategies Conference Investment Committee hypothetical.

The inputs from the Economic Scenarios & Asset Class Outlook Roundtable are used to determine a neutral asset allocation for a hypothetical portfolio.

Our Investment Committee (Strategies Conference delegates) then determines the dynamic asset allocation by voting separately on whether to underweight or overweight the various asset classes.

Our panel then debates the optimal implementation of the DAA, with reference to investment styles, duration, credit, and listed/unlisted assets, among other considerations.

Strategies Conference 2023 "You can do anything, just not everything!" will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking by debating contemporary and emerging portfolio construction strategies, to help you build better quality portfolios. Join us Wed-Thu 23-24 August 2023 at the live studio, a live site or via live stream.

This is Part One of our annual three-part Strategies Conference Investment Committee hypothetical. Our
independent consulting firm has provided a global economic outlook for the next three years, using a scenarios-based economic modelling philosophy.

For the first two decades of their life, hedged funds produced outstanding returns on average. For the past 20 years, it's not been so good. In this Spotlight, we review the reasons why, and whether there are any hedge funds worthy of inclusion in portfolios.