Economy

The world just passed 1 million COVID-19 infections (Thursday). Tragically 53,000 people have now died, but, more than 208,000 have recovered. The pandemic (declared as such on March 11 by the World Health Organisation) has spread to 181 countries and at least one-third of the world is now under some type of lockdown. In this article 'a complete timeline of the coronavirus pandemic' (click here), Business Insider depicts the most significand events and moments that have defined the pandemic [...]

It has been five weeks that has changed the world. Whilst we cannot influence the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak nor manage the market's reaction to it, we can keep you well-informed about what is happening in the economy and the markets and what it means for you. Our team are working hard to analyse events and help guide you to the best possible outcomes. This is a summary of the week that was. Markets Our Observations Fear [...]

The Australian government has announced another round of economic stimulus to try and mitigate the economic slowdown caused by efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In this article we provide clarity with regard to the announcements relevant to the services we provide. Changes To Account Based Pension Withdrawal Requirements Currently, pensioners are required to withdraw a minimum percentage of their portfolio each year as a pension payment. The government has announced they will halve the withdrawal requirements [...]

The following is a note penned by our esteemed friends and allies in NSW, Stanford Brown Financial Advisers. It is well written, insightful but most importantly aligns with our own view and approach. ‘Wealth’ is income-generating capacity not share prices. Since share prices peaked on 20th February, the broad Australian share market has fallen by -35%, US is down -30%, and European markets are down by an average of -40%. The S&P500 index in the US is back to [...]

U.S. President Donald Trump's national address from the Oval Office last night was intended to calm the public and investors. Regarding the latter, it appears to have fallen short of the mark. Why? The announcement of new U.S. restrictions on travel to and from Europe for 30 days is likely to act as a further drag on the fundamentals for airlines and other related travel industries. In addition, the offsetting stimulus measures that were announced such as loans to [...]

In times of extreme market volatility as we are experiencing with the COVID-19 pandemic it can be useful to take a step back and think about what has happened and how that might inform our preferred positioning going forward. Three important questions come to mind in terms of how we think about our portfolios and investment strategy: Valuations: Has the selloff improved the skew of potential returns on risky assets? Sentiment: Is there evidence of a capitulation or panic [...]