Analysis

The negative correlation between bond and equity returns is taken as scripture in financial markets. But Capital Fund Management (CFM) warns that the times may be changing.   The negative correlation between bond and equity returns is the (relatively) simple idea that when equities go down, bonds go up, allowing bonds to act as a…

Australia’s direct lending market is set to take off as the big banks withdraw and investors realise the vast opportunities offered by the businesses that form the backbone of corporate Australia. “We want to grow this market, because we believe we’re offering something that’s going to be highly beneficial to investors in Australia in the…

Imminent climate disclosure obligations could dent fund manager profits by up to 1 per cent while increasing retail manager fees as much as 2.2 per cent, according to an NZ Government report. Analysis by New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) was released along with the final select committee report on the Financial…

The investment world has its fair share of clever spin doctors, such as the investment banks behind the ‘BRICs’ and ‘PIGS’ of years past. Some intriguing labels are now coming out of the budding impact investing sector. Mark Berryman, the managing director of impact and sustainable investing at US advisory firm Caprock Group, offered up…

Early stage investors are starting to broaden their appetite for carbon-reducing new technologies, looking for opportunities in nascent industries such as plant-based foods. According to the latest figures from Preqin, the global alternatives research house, the value of capital raisings in the niche segment of ‘alternative meat’ increased sixfold between 2019 and 2020 to US$206…

The term ‘big data’ has not resonated with investors in the way that the term ‘artificial intelligence’ has. Marrying the two helps. Now applying them to the ESG trend helps a lot more. Andy Moniz, a quantitative fund manager with a pedigree in data science, says he never much liked the term ‘big data’. The…

With an uptick in interest in hedge funds following better performance during covid-19, bfinance has produced a study on how big investors have adapted their hedge fund portfolios. The global manager search and research firm says that institutional investor sentiment towards hedge funds has been “noticeably more positive in 2021, supported by double-digit gains [in…

A new academic paper has labeled most investment strategy research as statistically flawed, equating finance industry back-tested analyses with the now-debunked historical medical studies funded by ‘big tobacco’. In the study titled ‘Finance is not excused: why finance should not flout basic principles of statistics‘, authors David Bailey and Marcos de Prado, argue that the…

The public facing aspects of Your Future Your Super (YFYS) risk creating a “pseudo ‘best in show’, according to new research from Deloitte. The research, titled “New ways to judge the past“, highlights a number of mostly unexamined pain points in the YFYS legislation and regulations – notably around the ATO’s YourSuper comparison tool and…

In his final speech to the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), Ian Silk defended the organisation against all comers. But the Morrison Government is unlikely to relent. “To be prudent stewards of capital and to act in their members’ best interests, investors must remain focused on ESG issues in their portfolios,” Ian Silk said…

Alexis George, AMP’s new CEO, faces the task of returning Australia’s oldest wealth manager to its founding principles. The question is how deep the rot runs. What’s to say after nine days in the job? Not a lot. Alexis George took the reins just over a week ago and, sensibly, has not hit the ground…

Grey swan risks abound in fixed income markets, with stickier than expected inflation and fresh lockdowns posing a threat to the orthodox view of a global recovery. The great inflation debate has gripped markets as they come to terms with the implications of the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus unleashed through 2020. But while many…