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21 November 2024
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We read about Quantitative Easing and tapering every day, but what are they and do they work? Should we worry about them? One thing is for sure - both subjects will be with us for many years to come.
It's easy to forget how severe the GFC was in destroying confidence and locking up markets. There was a genuine fear that the world was such a toxic place that no credit could be trusted.
In the world of credit risk, you need to understand the capacity of the borrower to pay what they’ve promised, then assume that they will let you down anyway and avoid concentrating your portfolio.
The risk that bond investors should be most concerned about is credit risk. Market risk does not produce a permanent loss of capital, and higher yields result in increasing returns over time.
Simple maths helps explain why the share market is so volatile. It’s not that it’s an irrational, casino-like beast that bucks and dives for no good reason. It’s a long duration market reacting to changes.
Investors in term deposits have taken major risks without realising it. As interest rates have fallen, people who expected term deposits to give them a reliable income stream are facing a challenging time.
The Big Four banks have had an extraordinary run and it’s left income investors with a conundrum: to stick with them even though they now offer relatively low dividend yields and limited growth prospects or to look elsewhere.
A triple headwind has seen Australia's biggest LIC swing to a 10% discount and scuppered its relative performance. Management was bullish in an interview with Firstlinks, but is the discount ever likely to close?
Most Australians don’t realise they are being charged up to six different types of fees on their superannuation. These fees can be opaque and hard to compare across different funds and investment options.
Economic growth in Australia looks to have bottomed, which means it makes sense to selectively add to cyclical exposures on the ASX in addition to key thematics like decarbonisation and technological change.
Understanding the property cycle can be a useful tool to make informed decisions and stay focused on long-term goals. This looks at where we are in the commercial property cycle and the potential opportunities for investors.
The concept of an 'equity risk premium' has driven asset allocation decisions for decades. A revamped study suggests it was a relatively short-lived phenomenon rather than the mainstay many thought.
It’s with heavy hearts that we announce Firstlinks’ co-founder and former Managing Editor, Graham Hand, has died aged 66. Graham was a legendary figure in the finance industry and here are three tributes to him.