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9 May 2024
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Investors often express their views on markets by tilting their portfolios towards certain sectors, in the hope of generating excess returns. Factor investing is a more sophisticated tool that can help to achieve better results.
Every economic cycle has its distinct characteristics where different sectors take up leadership. US tech has led markets higher since 2014, yet that looks stretched now, and other sectors like energy are set to outperform.
Dividend paying stocks play an important role in income portfolios. But they can also run the risk of being too narrowly focused, which can limit both income potential and upside participation when equity markets rise.
In the last decade, ETFs have become a mainstay of many portfolios, with broad market access to most asset types, as well as a wide array of sectors and themes. Is there a favourite of a CEO who oversees 30 funds?
Best-in-class or ‘pure-play’ companies concentrate on one business really well, while companies with diverse operations lead to inefficient capital allocation and underinvest in the best opportunities.
Powerful structural themes such as technology disruption and demographic changes may disguise what is driving company success. Watch these broad categories as they may not apply in ways you expect.
It's time for equity prices to more closely tie to a company’s underlying near-term earnings trajectory and financial strength. Despite the market trading at record levels, some stocks have been left behind.
Compared with most years in the last decade, FY20 performed poorly due to the virus, and now dividends are falling. There are three things to watch this year as support policies are wound back.
With the market hitting a five-year high this week, it’s a good opportunity to pause and examine the performance of the 11 sectors that make up the ASX: what’s worked, what’s lagged and what’s just plodding along?
If you are not happy to own the entire business for a decade, you should not be comfortable owners of even one share for just a few minutes. Time is the friend of the extraordinary business but the enemy of the poor business.
Life has radically shifted with my brain cancer, and I don’t know if it will ever be the same again. After decades of writing and a dozen years with Firstlinks, I still want to contribute, but exactly how and when I do that is unclear.
How useful are the retirement savings and spending targets put out by various groups such as ASFA? Not very, and it's reducing the ability of ordinary retirees to fully understand their retirement income options.
Australia will have 3.7 million more people in a decade's time, though the growth won't be evenly distributed. Over 85s will see the fastest growth, while the number of younger people will barely rise.
The $3 million super tax will capture retired, and soon to retire, public servants and politicians who are members of defined benefit superannuation schemes. Lobbying efforts for exemptions to the tax are intensifying.
Recently, I compiled a list of ASX stocks that you could buy and hold forever. Here’s a follow-up list of US stocks that you could own indefinitely, including well-known names like Microsoft, as well as lesser-known gems.
Debates about retirement tend to focus on the financial aspects: income, tax, estates, wills, and the like. Less attention is paid to the psychological challenges of retirement, which can often be more demanding.