Last week’s technical break higher in US 10-year bond yields has understandably led to concerns that rates could head much higher and potentially undermine equity valuations.  Against this background, this note assesses the outlook for both US bond yields and the equity market. Going Up: US 10-year Yields break the 3% barrier After trading largely

Read more

If you’re utilising a self-managed super fund (SMSF) for your superannuation, then you’ll want to be very smart and strategic about the portfolio that makes up that SMSF. After all, it is your retirement fund, and accumulating as much wealth through it as possible is essential. Many people look to SMSFs in order to give

Read more

Traditional passive index investing, whereby a fund tracks the performance of a market capitalisation based index, has been and remains an excellent way to invest, and exchange traded funds or ETFs have been an efficient and practical way for investors to access such an investment strategy. Indeed, in its annual research, which tracks the performance

Read more

Industry returns to growth, aided by strong markets After last month’s rare industry dip, the Australian ETF industry returned to its growing ways this month, aided by strong performance in both global and Australian sharemarkets – reaching a record high in FuM of $37.9B. Read on for details of the month in ETFs.

Read more

Despite concerns regarding high valuations and potential regulatory backlash, the latest earnings reporting season continues to highlight the strong and well diversified sources of earnings the tech giants are still able to harness.  This post delves into the actual earnings performance of some of the leading names in the NASDAQ-100 Index. US earnings continue to

Read more

The Australian banks have had a tough time of it recently. They are under increasing pressure from a Royal Commission, where a trend of past inappropriate behaviour and misconduct seems to be evident. Additionally, growth prospects appear to be subdued with a cooling housing market and tighter lending standards being applied to prospective borrowers. Adding

Read more

Month in Review – Wall Street lags as yields and $US rise Global equities rebounded in April, partly unwinding the declines over the previous two months.  The rebound came despite a lift in global bond yields and reflected ongoing good growth in earnings and still reasonable valuations that allowed a small drop in the equity-yield-premium

Read more

Over the years, the perennial debate of the relative benefits of passive versus active management has been raging amongst personal investors, finance professionals, academics and just about anyone with an interest in investing. Although there is no doubt that this discussion will continue for years to come, it has become apparent that each management style

Read more

ETFs have been gaining popularity with Australian investors since they first launched on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) nearly 17 years ago. For many SMSF Trustees, ETFs offer a combination of advantages that align well with many SMSF and retirement planning goals. For a number of SMSFs, ETFs can be a particularly useful investment option

Read more

While the majority of Australian investors’ portfolios tend to be very equity-heavy, in the current economic environment there may be a case for diversifying across asset classes and increasing commodities exposure. This article looks at four of the key factors supporting a bullish view on commodities in the near-term. 1. Reflation and Releveraging Economic reflation

Read more