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22 January 2025
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The US market has pummelled Australia's over the past 16 years and for good reason: it has some incredible businesses. Australia does too, but if you want to enjoy US-type returns, you need to know where to look.
There's been a 13-year runway of varying degrees of capital allocation that paid little attention to fundamentals and valuation. If there was ever a market environment when quality stocks are expected to perform, it's now.
As investors, we all like to snap up a bargain but cheaply-priced stocks tend to provide short-term, temporary pleasures. Meanwhile, a quality gem is the gift that keeps on giving, even if the entry price seems expensive.
Investment styles go in and out of fashion and can explain why some fund managers spend long periods under- or out-performing an overall index. But what are these major styles?
When researchers identified the benefits of investing in 'value', index providers and asset managers created products to harness the 'value' factor. But is the construction of the index correct?
ETFs have grown rapidly in popularity and diversity, but like managed funds, not all products will survive for the long term and there are consequences if a small-scale ETF is closed by its issuer.
We are not in the heady market conditions of 1987 at the moment, but the biggest problem facing investors will be the urge to panic sell after a major fall, similar to the desire that drives buying at the top.
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.
The promise of diversification, low costs and access to overseas markets are boosting the popularity of all types of index funds, but broadly diversified cap-weighted equity index funds can only promise ‘average’ returns.
While fund managers are reluctant to reveal their newly-found 'top picks' to the public, there is an underlying process which can be used to identify an attractive company to invest in.
Looking beyond the top quality companies, it pays to find the true visionaries, the companies whose prospects are compelling into the distant future because of the strong momentum they have built.
Quality measures gained popularity after the burst of the dot com bubble and the spectacular failures of companies such as Enron and WorldCom, and more recently, the GFC. But how do we measure quality?
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.