Since the Japanese ‘bubble economy’ burst at the end of the 1980s, it has seen sub-par growth, recessions, deflation and a secular bear market in shares and property. These events have had a lasting impact on the funds management industry and on the long-term asset allocation strategies of Japanese institutional investors. On the one hand, […]
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are increasingly becoming a crucial part of an investor’s tool kit, offering exposure to factor tilts and different asset classes and geographies in a highly liquid, simple and cost-effective manner. They have proved incredibly popular with investors and financial advisers. ETF growth is expected to continue as investor awareness increases and […]
Advisers spend a lot of time on strategic asset allocation decisions, particularly the choice between growth and defensive assets. But in the current environment of low rates and high volatility, we think that advisers need spend more time on another aspect of clients’ portfolios: their exposure to currencies. Not only does currency exposure have a […]
In September of 2016, Airbnb raised US$850 million in new equity, valuing the company at US$30 billion dollars and subsequently crowning it the most valuable lodging provider in the world without owning a single room. It is a particularly 21st century phenomenon that a company that started eight years ago, with no tangible product of […]
I recently had an ‘a-ha’ moment. I was sitting in yet another room full of women talking about the importance of gender diversity. It dawned on me that we’ve talked about diversity for so long that we’ve become dulled to the issue. We’ve heard the arguments so many times that we’ve stopped listening. Advisers might […]
At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 1.50 per cent. Conditions in the global economy have improved over recent months. Business and consumer confidence have both picked up. Above-trend growth is expected in a number of advanced economies, although uncertainties remain. In China, growth was stronger over the […]
Record numbers of visitors pouring into Australia suggest flights full of free-spending tourists landing at crowded airports around the country, cramming through immigration to dash to the nearest shopping centre and lift the nation’s retail sales figures as quickly as possible. Actually, the description is only a slight exaggeration as Australia’s tourism industry undergoes resurgence, […]
Since the global financial crisis (GFC), one of the dominant patterns in global economic policy has been the search for more tools to provide stimulus in an environment where low growth and low inflation have proven extremely persistent. Faced with the difficulty of what to do when cash rates reach the lower bound of zero, […]
Advisers who moved their clients into listed real estate after the GFC made a brave call, given that investors in the sector suffered terribly during the economic turmoil. However, in the last five years, those clients who were invested in the listed real estate sector have benefited from strong total returns. Notably, global listed real […]
At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 1.50 per cent. The global economy is continuing to grow, at a lower than average pace. Labour market conditions in the advanced economies have improved over the past year. Economic conditions in China have steadied, supported by growth in infrastructure and […]
