Fund Managers

Professional funds management is both a science and an art. Interpretation of the differences between managers – their styles, track record and place within a structured portfolio are all part of the day-to-day of financial planning. Managed funds are not for everyone – but they influence markets and the topography of the entire investment market, so awareness of their position and activities is crucial to any understanding of broad markets.

Buy and hold – or be more active?

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How will you harvest what is available?

There has been a great deal of attention directed over the last couple of years towards a strategy known as “buy/write”. This post will look at how such a strategy has worked, and how the current market impacts such a process. The reason for this post is the strong market focus by advertisers and promoters … Read more

(Un) Sustainable, Socially (Ir) Responsible Investments

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What is socially responsible investment and how does it operate?

A greater social awareness of global impacts from day-to-day activites is encouraging higher levels of engagement from investors. However, in the step up to identify ethically and socially acceptable investment ideas, care should be taken to ensure the outcomes are what we want them to be.

Managed Funds are a waste of time

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Would someone please offer to donate $1 to me every time that i encounter something along the lines of “managed funds are a waste of time”? It could save me an awful lot of time and energy, and would very quickly fund my eventual retirement to a Tibetan monastery, where i would sit in bemused … Read more

Managed funds and Listed Investment Trusts

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Financial planners can spend many hours agonising over exactly which investment is or is not suitable for an individual portfolio. Some clients want to participate in direct investment themselves and others want professional funds management to take care of the specific selection and administration work, leaving time for advisors to focus on the broader issues. However, … Read more

Be gentle on ‘Industry Funds’ – they know not what they do.

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The front page of todays Australian Financial Review (AFR) includes an article titled “Unlisted assets drag down super fund returns”. In it, the returns of ‘Industry Funds’* is suggested as showing falling returns into a recovering market. This is entirely expected, and should not be a reason to argue against the ‘Industry Fund’ attraction to … Read more

Noise – it’s all just noise..!

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My brother sent this photo yesterday. It is the view from his current workplace, in Laos. Here is my view… Sometimes the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day can stop us from seeing and thinking clearly. When considering money issues, this is the most common cause of mistakes being made. It may sound easy to … Read more

But who’s thinkin’ aboot the Bebe?

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It is a favourite parody scene from some of my favourite comedies – in the midst of a terrible turmoil there is someone runing from pillar to post, pulling out their hair while yelling (usually with an enforced accent), “but what about the baby?” It may be a long bow to draw any similarity but … Read more

Comparing Super Fund Returns

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For those who do not wish to visit a financial planner or those who simply want a quick response without having to go through lots of discussion, here is a very good website that offers fund comparisons. It is the Chant West “Applecheck” site. It focusses on more than just returns, and is an extremely good … Read more