Mark Burgess, Chief Investment Officer at Threadneedle Investments comments on recent market developments: Without doubt, the most significant economic development of 2013 has been the transformation of economic policy in Japan. The authorities have planned a massive monetary injection, combined with a fiscal stimulus and other reforms to encourage growth. Unlike previous attempts by the [...]
continue readingA daring experiment is under way in the world’s second-biggest modern economy. “Abenomics”, formulated by a group of “reflationists”, is about firing “three arrows” at Japan’s economy with the aim of pulling it out of two decades of deflation-ridden, stop-start growth. These three shots include full bore monetary policy, aggressive fiscal policy and a big [...]
continue readingPotential risk to returns by having an underweight position in resources, overweight financials, especially from such extreme levels says Pengana’s Ric Ronge. The first signs of a correction between banks and miners are showing, as miners have started to rally on better-than-expected US jobs growth, supportive Chinese trade data and further Central Bank stimulus. Ronge [...]
continue readingWith the global emerging markets landscape changing rapidly, disparities among investment returns are growing quickly as well – making the choice of the right market exposure more critical than ever, according to a new commentary released today by the BlackRock Investment Institute (BII). Andrew Swan, Head of Asian Fundamental Equities: “In regards to China equities, [...]
continue readingSuggestions that bond market “bubble” conditions exist can be misleading, and shouldn’t call into question the value of bonds in a portfolio, according to ‘Low yields and rising rates concerns: the implications for bond market investors’, a new whitepaper published by Vanguard Australia. The global fall in interest rates to very low levels following the [...]
continue readingRussell Investments has welcomed the reform announcements by US President Obama to abolish the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) in order to attract foreign pension fund investment into the US – flagging substantial new opportunities for direct property and infrastructure investors. FIRPTA is a US tax levied on foreign persons when they [...]
continue readingA groundswell of local interest in offshore investing has seen nearly 70% of new funds invested in ASX-listed ETFs so far this year go into International Equities exposures. Mark Oliver, Head of BlackRock Retail Business in Australia, said: “In a market known for its domestic bias, this is further demonstration that Australian investors are increasingly [...]
continue readingThe coming years will be favourable ones for Chinese workers seeking hefty pay rises. A big contraction in the labour force will help their bargaining position no end, as it upturns China’s economy. To understand the test confronting China it helps to canvass the work of an economist from the Caribbean island of Saint [...]
continue readingThe strength of the Australian dollar is likely to continue in the short to medium term, with significant implications for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) monetary policy and its ability to manage inflation in the longer term, says Roger Bridges, head of fixed income at Tyndall AM. “In my view, as long as global [...]
continue readingTowards the end of 2012, we witnessed the negative impact that political battles can have on economic activity. Concern over the outcome of the fiscal cliff negotiations in the US caused a freeze in corporate decision-taking and spending. We anticipated a bounce back once the outlook was clearer and recent meetings with US company management [...]
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