Reading time: 3 minutes
Thanks to improvements in smartphones, mobile networks and payments technology, the traditional bank-centric payments system – based around cash and plastic credit cards – is increasingly being disrupted by faster, cheaper and often more secure mobile-based systems.
Across emerging markets, and among the young within developed markets especially,

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“There is a big role that we can play, and it depends on who you are. You may be a consumer, you may be an investor, and you may be a fund manager. But you’re also a citizen, you have investing and political power, and you can do things in your own life as well.”
–

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Investing has a lot in common with maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine.
A few common sense tips apply to both: diversify, be consistent, look out for fads, avoid extreme measures, keep emotions in check and think long term.
There’s also a staggering variety of strategies and decisions: Take the lift or the stairs?

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Reading time: 3 minutes
‘During the gold rush it’s a good time to be in the pick and shovel business’ – Mark Twain
Digital assets such as Bitcoin have been described as the next technological revolution on the scale of the internet¹.

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Reading time: 4 minutes
The online age has heralded a new era of warfare, which pits not only sovereign nations against one another, but also cyber criminals against businesses, individuals, and their intellectual property.
Cybersecurity incidents soared in Australia during the past financial year, according to the recent Australian Cyber Security Centre’s (ACSC) second annual threat report.

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Reading time: 4 minutes
With interest rates expected to stay low over the next few years and bonds delivering negative returns after inflation, traditional asset allocation for retirees may no longer work as well as it has in the past.
While the traditional 70/30 asset allocation split has served retirees,

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Reading time: 3 minutes
With almost 60% of Australia currently in lockdown, and working and learning remotely, the value and importance of the internet has never been more obvious. Companies providing cloud computing software have been critical in allowing us to continue life with some level of normality.

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Reading time: 2 minutes
The strong relative performance of growth stocks in recent years has given rise to concerns about overvaluation and a potential re-run of the dotcom bubble twenty years ago. This note provides an update on the valuation picture with regard to growth stocks –

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The Asian technology sector has suffered a pullback in recent months, even as global equity markets – and the global tech sector in particular – have continued to power ahead. This suggests the pullback largely reflects regional factors – namely the tightening of regulatory scrutiny by Chinese authorities of its major technology companies.

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Reading time: 3 minutes
Looking at headline returns is a great way to quickly ascertain how much your portfolio has increased or decreased in a certain timeframe, but it tells us little in terms of how much risk has been attached to the investment, and how much of the return can be explained by movement in the wider market.

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