Reading time: 4 minutes
While both exchange traded funds (ETFs) and listed investment companies (LICs) are exchange traded products, there are some important differences. These differences can be a source of frustration for investors who can confuse the two, and the expected performance profiles of each.
Let’s take a closer look.

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Despite India’s economy being relatively hard hit by COVID-19 over the past year, its stock market has been among the strongest performers. Helping underpin the Indian market outlook has been continued strong growth in the economy and corporate earnings. Indian companies that score highly on ‘quality’ metrics such as return on equity have also continued to demonstrate their relatively good performance within the Indian market.

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Key global market trends – higher rates take their toll

Global equities suffered a setback in September as a rebound in bond yields dragged down still lofty price-to-earnings valuations. The key market development in the month was a more hawkish than expected Federal Reserve policy meeting, which suggested a tapering in bond purchases would be announced next month and U.S.

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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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Over the long term, ‘high-quality’ companies have tended to outperform the more cyclically exposed areas of the market as investors have searched for companies with lower debt, more consistent earnings and stronger profitability, offering dependable, secular growth in a low-growth world.
This is visible when comparing historical returns of an index of high-quality global companies to the broad global market over the past decade.

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Last week’s U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting suggested the world’s most important central bank was inching closer to tightening monetary conditions. This note considers the potential impact on bond yields and equity markets.
The Fed turns a little hawkish
The upshot of last week’s Fed policy meeting was that it signalled a likely tapering of bond purchases following the November policy meeting (which has long been my preferred timetable).

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With interest rates around the globe in low single digits, yield-hungry investors face the challenge of finding investment strategies that offer a satisfactory level of income. According to Trading Economics, there are currently around 50 countries that have an interest rate of 1% or below¹.

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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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AUGUST 2021: THE EQUITIES PARTY CONTINUES, AS THE INDUSTRY REACHES NEW HIGHS
The Australian ETF industry passed a significant new milestone in August and is now over $125B in funds under management, as the ‘triple threat’

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So you want to invest your money in stocks. You know about the benefits of diversification and want exposure to lots of stocks, but don’t necessarily have the time or expertise to select specific companies yourself.
Many people in this situation use investment managers to invest on their behalf.

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