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22 January 2025
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Stock buybacks improve earnings per share, making it look like better company performance. In the US, if buybacks stop for any reason, both management and investors alike will have to shift earnings per share expectations downwards.
Marketplace or peer-to-peer lending is well established overseas and growing rapidly in Australia, but investors should understand the risks and the returns, as described in the first part of this debate.
The rise in bond rates in the US in 2018 has tilted investment opportunities away from the easy choice of collecting higher dividends on shares, and now, greater prudence is required.
Among the focus on tech stocks and healthcare sectors, the quality in consumer staples stocks tends to be overlooked, but these are the companies we continue to buy from in all economic circumstances.
Many active managers are closet indexers. The real cost of forcing a skilled manager into a low tracking error is the limit to the upside.
A better approach to sustainable investing is to actively select for better ESG scores and identify companies with a positive impact. Fund managers have an important advocacy role.
Bond investing is not only buy and hold and traditional return sources such as income, changing yields and duration. Relative value identifies market inefficiencies and uses risk management techniques in all market conditions.
The movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, not only took a journey into the future, it glimpsed many technologies that are now with us. It’s time to look ahead to future asset allocations.
The bank bill/OIS swap rate may seen arcane but if it stays at current elevated levels, it may increase rates for borrowers in the same way as an increase in cash rates by the Reserve Bank.
Many investors in global portfolios overlook the currency exposure and should consider leaving hedging decisions to specialists. There is no single optimal hedging strategy as conditions vary over time.
Investors shouldn't automatically assume the inclusion of bonds in a portfolio provides diversity against their equity exposure, as correlations can change in volatile markets.
Home cooking and value investing have much in common. While it takes more time and effort to carefully assemble the right ingredients, the results can pay off over the long run.
Last year, I wrote an article suggesting returns from ASX stocks would trample those from housing over the next decade. One year later, this is an update on how that forecast is going and what's changed since.
The housing market was subdued in 2024, and pessimism abounds as we start the new year. 2025 is likely to be a tale of two halves, with interest rate cuts fuelling a resurgence in buyer demand in the second half of the year.
This examines the performance of key asset classes and sub-sectors in 2024 and over longer timeframes, and the lessons that can be drawn for constructing an investment portfolio for the next decade.
The renowned investor has penned his first investor letter for 2025 and it’s a ripper. He runs through what bubbles are, which ones he’s experienced, and whether today’s markets qualify as the third major bubble of this century.
Key lessons include expensive stocks can always get more expensive, Bitcoin is our tulip mania, follow the smart money, the young are coming with pitchforks on housing, and the importance of staying invested.
Check out the most-read Firstlinks articles from 2024. From '16 ASX stocks to buy and hold forever', to 'The best strategy to build income for life', and 'Where baby boomer wealth will end up', there's something for all.