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22 December 2024
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A well-meaning AFL rule change in 2016 seems to have had unintended consequences. The top teams might cry foul but AFL bosses are unlikely to be too miffed about the outcome.
Harry Markowitz said that “diversification is the only free lunch in investing” as holding a broader range of assets can result in better returns without assuming more risk. This has become accepted wisdom - but it isn't true.
Trend-following strategies have been around for a long time though they're still seemingly underappreciated. These strategies can provide diversification benefits and help protect downside risks to portfolios.
As more Australians invest overseas, currency exposure represents a new risk. 50% hedged, 50% unhedged was once a popular ‘least regret’ approach, but there's a move to currency as a return source.
Value investing is a long-cycle play, but a decade (and counting) of waiting for mean reversion has tested the faith of even long-horizon investors. Some basic principles are worth assessing.
Handling extreme winners is a complex task. Conventional wisdom such as “you never go broke taking a profit” often leaves a lot of money on the table as strong growth stocks continue to run.
In this update of the 'winners versus losers' investment hypothesis, momentum is the winner - again. It's only a 'paper' portfolio but it suggests consistent behavioural biases among investors.
A simple strategy of backing prior winners and shorting prior losers has outperformed again in 2015, supporting arguments for 'momentum' investing. It's an example of a factor that can be used across a portfolio.
In 1993, researchers in the US studied the phenomenon of winning stocks continuing to outperform losing stocks. Using both long and short positions one could theoretically outperform the market on a regular basis.
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.
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.
Australia is in the early throes of an intergenerational wealth transfer worth an estimated $3.5 trillion. Here's a case study highlighting some of the challenges with transferring wealth between generations.
The Future Fund's original purpose was to meet the unfunded liabilities of Commonwealth defined benefit schemes. These liabilities have ballooned to an estimated $290 billion and taxpayers continue to be treated like fools.
ASFA provides a key guide for how much you will need to live on in retirement. Unfortunately it has many deficiencies, and the averages don't tell the full story of the growing gender superannuation gap.
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.