Fund Manager News

Equity markets rebounded in November, regaining most of October’s losses, with some indices making new all-time highs. The optimism came after some promising results from phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trials from several drug companies. By late-November, the broader S&P 500 was up more than 7%, while the NASDAQ 100 was also showing solid gains for…

Most equity markets recorded modest gains last week as the focus for investors remained on the coronavirus situation. In the US – a shortened week for Thanksgiving – the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 both ended the week up more than 2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above 30,000 for the first time.…

In this paper we reflect on some of our client discussions when engaging on investing in India. These discussions range from retail, high net worth to institutional clients. Commonly asked questions are: Why should I even consider India as an investment option – it is not on the radar Shouldn’t I just leave it to…

It was an up and down week for global equity markets, with most major benchmarks in the US finishing the week within 1% of where they started. The to and fro came as sentiment jumped between worsening coronavirus data, but some positive news on the vaccine front. Down under, the NZX 50 was one of…

The RBNZ has confirmed that cheaper bank funding will be here in time for Christmas via its Funding for Lending Programme (FLP). This will provide fresh impetus for banks to lower lending and deposit rates. Lower mortgage rates will likely boost an already-booming housing market. Lower term deposit rates may encourage consumer spending and a…

Investors who are investing savings for growth should have a long-term investment horizon as their needs are generally to meet long-term goals. Whilst goals can be anywhere from 3 to 20 years away, most associate a horizon of 5 years as an adequate time frame to assess an investment. When considering investment in a market…

Today, investors find themselves in the midst of a “growth at any price” bubble, characterised by very high concentration in market capitalisation, narrow performance breadth and extraordinarily high valuation multiple dispersion. The chase for high growth has been driven by a generational collapse in real yields with COVID-19 acting as an accelerant. This outcome has…

Fund updates from our fund managers - October 2020 Harbour - T. Rowe Price Global Equity Growth Fund Milford - Australian Absolute Growth Fund Milford - Active Growth Fund Milford - Balanced Fund Milford - Conservative Fund Milford - Diversified Income Fund Milford - Dynamic Fund Milford - Global Corporate Bond Fund Milford - Global…

It’s been quite a year for companies, with clear division between the Covid-19 winners and losers, writes Mike Taylor, CEO and founder of Pie Funds.  The US share market and economy hardly reacted at all to the 1918 Spanish Flu. This shows that, sadly, the share market is a cold-blooded beast irreverent to human suffering…

New Zealand’s housing market is booming. What’s driving it? Pie Funds CEO and Founder Mike Taylor explains. When Covid-19 hit New Zealand’s shores in early March, many predicted that the economy would crash and the housing market would collapse. Some economists predicted house prices could drop at least 10 per cent. However, as we head…

As a thematic investor, Platinum looks for opportunities where others are not - in the assets being left behind and not where we see ‘bubble-like’ valuations. Key themes in our portfolios currently are a combination of exaggerated demise (semiconductors or travel) or underappreciated growth (Chinese consumers and healthcare, two areas where we believe we have a…

U.S. Wednesday morning update Our election note from last night has aged well, so I will just mention a few quick thoughts here. First, it is still true that President Donald Trump outperformed the polls. The race is still close—and I’ll touch on that more in a moment—but Trump’s outperformance in states like Iowa seems…