Managed Fund Articles

While long-term investing is often touted as the key to success in the stock market, there’s a body of evidence that challenges the idea. Even Warren Buffett, who championed the 'forever' investing style, has occasionally betrayed his advice. Research shows that out of 230 stocks held by Berkshire Hathaway between 1980 and 2006, 60% were owned for less than a year. So even staunch long-term advocates adjust their strategies based on market conditions.

Investing in actively managed funds is a core approach for millions of Australian investors both inside and outside of their superannuation. It makes sense for many. Identifying expert managers who are able to outperform over the long term makes investors lives easier and less stressful. But as with stock investing, there are some red flags to watch out for when selecting your fund managers. They tend to pop up time and time again with underperforming and unethical managers so they are worth being aware of

Recent private equity return data from Preqin reveals that growing divergence of private equity returns is the name of the game. That’s both good news and bad news for investors. It means having the right private equity exposure is likely to remain fruitful, but ensuring you have the right exposure may take more due diligence than in the past. In other words, being informed as a private equity investor is more important than ever.

Investors may struggle to determine if a company’s management team are aligned with shareholders’ interests, wondering they are truly invested in the company's long-term success or merely focused on receiving their weekly salary. There’s one metric which is better than all others when it comes to assessing how invested management teams are in the future of their companies: significant, long-term skin in the game. Hence, recognising outperforming founder-led businesses can be a game-changer for investors.

Momentum is defined as ‘the impetus gained by a moving object.’ It’s an important concept that's at the heart of most success.. Tony Robbins explains why: ‘People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed.’

When the words ‘hedge fund’ run through investors’ minds, cocaine-fuelled images of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, may accompany them. Fair dues. In the past, the global hedge fund sector attracted more than its share of larger-than-life alpha males not known for their ethics or compassion. But that was then and this is now. And with global equity markets getting rockier, investors are increasingly looking for reliable absolute return strategies to protect their portfolios from market volatility.

Private credit is having a 'Goldilocks' moment, with higher-for-longer interest rates driving double-digit returns. Once an overlooked investment class, Australia’s private credit market has exploded in recent years and is on track to reach $200 billion of assets under management, growing at a compound growth rate of 23% p.a.

It’s been a wild ride for investors of late with volatility returning to global markets catalysed by the unwinding of the Yen carry trade. Whilst intermittent volatility shouldn’t surprise anyone, it has surprised the investors who’d grown to believe that equity markets gradually increase in value forever. What investors do next will arguably define whether 2024 is a good or a bad year for their portfolios…

What began as a tool for young investors and self-managed superannuation funds seeking diversification and exposure to harder-to-access asset classes like international equities has now become a mainstream investment.

As the transition towards a low carbon, more sustainable world accelerates, many investors have assumed that ESG is connected with the impact needed to address the world’s environmental and social challenges for the simple reason they hear the term so often. But there’s more to it than that. So what is ESG? And what isn’t it?

Unitised funds, which pool investments from multiple investors and invest in a broad portfolio of assets, allow investors to access the in-depth knowledge, research, and ongoing monitoring of professional managers. 

Learning from successful professional fund managers is often a shortcut to better investment results. It’s equally informative when there’s a noteworthy shift that brings a previously successful investment strategy into question. Enter the Dalio dilemma.