Thanks to rapid technological advances, the global robotics and artificial intelligence (A.I.) sectors stand poised to significantly boost global economic productivity and redress worker shortages caused by population ageing over coming decades.  As this note will demonstrate, moreover, the robot revolution also offers the growth potential to reward investors who tap into this emerging global

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One of the most common questions I get asked on ETFs relates to liquidity, largely driven by the common misconception that ETFs are somehow illiquid due to the fact that ‘on-screen’ liquidity at times appears limited (particularly compared to popular shares). Even though we have dealt with this area a number of times in other

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Industry Breaks the $40B Barrier The Australian ETF industry grew very strongly in August reaching a new record high of $41.5B. The industry grew a rapid 3.7% in the month ($1.5B), 2/3 of which was driven by asset appreciation particularly in the U.S. sharemarket. Read on for details of the month in ETFs.

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With the US labour market tight and inflation starting to lift, one similar historical episode that has attracted investor attention, and which may be instructive for today’s market, relates to the late 1960s.  At that time US wage and price inflation started to lift quite quickly, which eventually led to higher interest rates and a

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Global equities pushed higher last month reflecting steady bond yields, reasonable valuations and – most importantly – continued strength in earnings.  Technology remains flavour of the month, whereas gold exposures are least favoured. Market Trends – September 2018 Update  

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The last few years have certainly been fruitful for some investors in the international space, with most markets showing meaningful gains. The future, however, may hold more uncertainty, with quantitative tightening and heightened geopolitical risks anticipated as we look ahead. In years gone by the response to failing markets and economies was that of fiscal

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With solid global demand and ongoing supply side disruptions, oil prices could well remain reasonably firm over the coming year. If so, there may be investment opportunities in energy related ETFs. In this post, I examine the dynamics of oil and investment opportunities further. Oil Market Appears Tight Since bottoming in early 2016, global oil

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After nearly a decade of incredibly easy monetary policy, the global interest rate cycle is turning. The US Federal Reserve has started to increase official interest rates and unwind quantitative easing and in Australia, although official interest rates are on hold, the next move is more likely to be up rather than down. So where

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As a new mother I have experienced a world entirely new to me. Other than the continuous lack of sleep, never have I been exposed to so much advertising and marketing on all the different baby products my child “absolutely, positively” needs.  Gasp! In some ways, the marketers of these products appear to be suggesting

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In meeting with clients over recent months, one of the common questions I’ve been asked has concerned the potential “income shock” to be faced by households given the apparently large number of interest-only mortgage loans that may need to be reset into principal and interest loans over coming years. This note suggests that while this

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