Analysis

Bitcoin’s volatility means that institutional investors have historically steered well clear. But the times are a-changing, and even skeptics believe the cryptocurrency will have its day. Cryptocurrency is clearly here to stay. While most investors watch its massive price swings with bemused detachment, a few have begun to think seriously about the role they can…

China’s regulatory crackdown is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to investing in Asia. The real game is geopolitics – and in that area, things are heating up. “I think Asia will probably look better as we move into 2022. I think the remainder of 2021 is really about timing of entry;…

The problem with high expectations is that you have to keep meeting them. And after a year where some funds returned 20 per cent, investors and super members are expecting more, more, more. Investors are relentlessly cheerful creatures. According to Schroders’ latest Global Investor Study, Australian investors (defined here as those expecting to invest the…

The tilt at Sydney airport and the privatisation of WestConnex has showcased the appetite for Australian infrastructure from super funds and offshore investors. The only problem is in meeting it. “The appetite to invest in Australia, as you’re seeing through these mega-privatisations, is huge,”says Nicole Walker, chief commercial officer at specialist alternative asset manager HRL…

Family office portfolios could see massive underperformance ahead with most well-overweight cash, according to the latest Citi Private Bank global survey of the sector. David Bailin, Citi Global Wealth chief investment officer, said about a third of family offices in the survey reported cash holdings of 20 per cent or more while a further third…

September has historically been a bad month for markets, and it could be about to get worse. But then again, talk is cheap. Everybody in equity markets knows that September is the cruellest month, to paraphrase Elliot.Nobody really understands why it happens (theories range from tax-related selling to seasonal behavioural biases) but it happens. The…

As superannuation and life insurance consolidation continues apace, risk firm Retender warns that the government cannot rely on the invisible hand of the market to ensure competitive outcomes. It’s well understood that big super is getting bigger. That’s as a result of both “Your Future Your Super”, which drives consolidation by closing underperforming products and…

Cashed-up industry funds are expected to be leaders leader in post-pandemic M&A activity as investors begin to see the light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel. While Fidelity anticipates that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a structural shift in consumer and market behaviour, the increased certainty provided by reopening means that M&A activity will…

Implausible doesn’t mean impossible. But it remains to be seen whether the “creative destruction” that ARK Invest is banking on can trump the possibility that we’ve been in a bubble all along. They’re what legendary investor/prophet of doom Jeremy Grantham calls “super-crazies” – the wildly overvalued assets that start to appear shortly before the bubble…

While ESG is on the radar of most Australian institutional investors, none of them believe it’s currently necessary to what they do. While that’s starting to change, a lack of hard data stands in the way. Currently, none of the Australian institutional investors surveyed by BNP Paribas for its Global ESG Survey believe that ESG…

China’s ongoing regulatory crackdown has investors running scared. But China still wants to be a global player – and its most successful companies aren’t going anywhere. China’s recent regulatory efforts have sent a chill down the spine of even the most bullish investors, with questions swirling about where and when the aggressive crackdown – which…

It’s hard to think about tomorrow when you’re having a good time today, and a decade of ripping equity market returns has investors convinced that the party can go on. While equity markets have outpaced “even the most optimistic forecasts” in recent years, Northern Trust Asset Management (NT) believes that those red hot returns could…