- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Give Thanks”
26 Nov 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Insights
The latest market insights from our strategists covering equity
and fixed income markets, and a global macro overview.
Max Pacella
Investment Analyst
Max is an Investment Analyst at Mason Stevens, having been at the firm since 2020 after five years in the mortgage finance and property sectors.
As Investment Analyst he covers a broad spectrum of responsibilities across asset management, multi-asset portfolio review and construction, private wealth client services and institutional counterparty relationships. He is a contributor to company financial literature for both broad client distribution and specific mandates/investment committees.
Max is completing a Bachelor of Economics at the University of Sydney, as well as holding a license for providing General Advice in Securities and Managed Investments.
Insights by this Author
Back to all insights
Welcome back to our weekend reading, As we approach the end of 2021, it seems all but certain that this will be another “thank goodness that’s over” year. As volatile and overheated as a family on a long car ride...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Under the sea: Saving the Planet with Seaweed
25 Nov 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Government and corporate interests around the world are turning their attention towards our output of carbon into the atmosphere, sparking a wave of investment trends from electric vehicles to renewable energy infrastructure. But many of the sustainability themes that are...
READ MORE
- Equities
Is now the time for infrastructure?
23 Nov 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Infrastructure has had a volatile year as an overall asset class, with the MSCI AC World Infrastructure Index struggling to regain its pre-COVID highs. We can attribute this largely to disruptions to economic re-opening, a time lag for infrastructure assets...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “A Strong Constitution”
19 Nov 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
To quote Arnold in Terminator 3, “I’m back”. It’s been quite a week for stories - and given that a new Federal Reserve Chair is expected to be nominated next week, November may be a particularly readable month of news...
READ MORE
As Otto Von Bismark once said, “Laws are like sausages; it is better not to see them being made” As investors, we should take an avid interest in “how the sausage is made” and what sits behind the financial products...
READ MORE
The 2021 COP26 Glasgow climate summit has drawn to a close, ending – to quote my favourite T.S. Eliot – not with a bang but a whimper. With nearly 200 countries participating over two weeks, culminating in what has been...
READ MORE
Australia is often overlooked when it comes to innovation. Compared to the likes of the steam engine, the printing press or the radio, it’s difficult to stand up and proudly announce that we invented the clothesline. Our technology market is...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “All About the Banks”
05 Nov 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading. In a week that saw gubernatorial elections in the US, the Glasgow COP26 summit and the usual slew of smaller (albeit still sensational) stories, the market chose central banks as the primary focal point...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Primary Markets Update October 2021
04 Nov 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Primary markets are a key component of the investment landscape, both as a glimpse into the corporate health of a particular region or sector, as well as a valuable mix of opportunities for investors to participate in. At Mason Stevens,...
READ MORE
Sustainability and being a good corporate citizen has been a growing factor in our investment landscape over the last two decades. Investors of all levels have begun to embrace a non-financial lens to their choice of securities or products, particularly...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Chaotic Neutral”
29 Oct 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our Weekend Reading. Like a restless sleeper, markets have tossed and turned lately; what looked like a strong rebound from the Hang Seng has fallen off (potentially to form a bullish head and shoulders pattern?), the NASDAQ...
READ MORE
- Fixed Income
Converting to Convertible Bonds
28 Oct 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Although the market doesn’t stay in one state forever, it’s always valuable for an investor to be aware of the tools at their disposal and potential allocations which may be defensive against an unfavourable capital market environment. What if there...
READ MORE
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in our universe, with energy properties that could transform the way we use power forever. However presently we barely scratch the surface as a society, and as investors, of its full potential. From powering...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Upgades, People. Upgrades”
22 Oct 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading, Perhaps gearing up for the ‘Santa rally’, markets have seen some semblance of strength this week -as all the crypto holders look up from their solid green P&Ls after Bitcoin’s all time high, laughing...
READ MORE
“Green Mining”. Though the term sounds like an oxymoron, the concept of environmentally friendly mining has been touted for a number of years as a way to potentially add longevity to dirty industries which are rapidly losing favour with consumers...
READ MORE
In the past, we have touched upon the geopolitical landscape surrounding the Indo-Pacific Region, with a particular focus on China’s interests and actions in the area. As Australian citizens and investors, it is without a doubt that we are at...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Showing Up Stag”
15 Oct 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading. Another week, another volatile period for markets. After a disappointing performance in September, equity markets seem to be doing their utmost to claw back some green percentage points these last two weeks, whilst domestic and...
READ MORE
- Equities
Re-Opening Trade: Domestic Travel, Food, and Leisure
12 Oct 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
This morning represents 24 hours since NSW took the first step in re-opening, stepping bleary-eyed out of our homes into a week of wind and rain – but at least it’s fresh air. As our eastern seaboard tentatively finds its...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “The Ceiling”
08 Oct 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading. This week has seen serious conversations about debt ceilings, a potential Evergrande takeover, and a new Premier stepping in for NSW.Despite all the potentially market-rocking news that we have been inundated with, markets quietly shuffled...
READ MORE
The manipulation and editing of DNA is a field of study which can be quite divisive in conversation. On the one hand, we are exploring new frontiers of scientific technology, opening up pathways to cures and treatments which were considered...
READ MORE
- Equities
EQT/IRESS: The Takeover that Could Have Been
28 Sep 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Earlier this month, we saw one of the key mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Australia fall over, as Iress (IRE:ASX) ended talks with Swedish private equity firm, EQT. Terminating a process started in June this year, the Australian financial software...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Quaking in Our Boots”
24 Sep 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading. Between earthquakes and riots, I hope everyone is looking forward to the Mad Max-style water wars we seem due for. If only Melbourne had some unoccupied tradespeople around to help patch things up. It’s...
READ MORE
Welcome to the first day of Spring – and appropriately enough for a traditional time of growth and harvest, let’s discuss food. Throughout history, the development of our society has been based around our “physiological needs”, which Abraham Maslow described...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Fire At Will”
17 Sep 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our Weekend Reading. Another full week of news, another full week of tumultuous markets - at time of writing the Australian market is bearing the full brunt of a ~4.5% fall in iron ore prices. This week...
READ MORE
Uranium is in an interesting spot at the moment – pun intended. At time of writing, spot uranium is trading at US $44/lb, levels we have not seen since late 2012. Even still, this is only half of the price...
READ MORE
The European region can never be accused of being a stable presence – a melting pot of culture with a history dating back to some of the earliest of civilisations. And in recent history, European equity markets have been a...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Long Until You’re Not”
10 Sep 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading. Capital markets across the globe saw some interesting movements this week, with uranium moving up-and-right, equities giving a bit of a tremor to keep us on our toes, and Bitcoin dropping right off the...
READ MORE
- Equities
August 2021 Reporting Season: An Overview
09 Sep 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Australia has put yet another reporting season behind us, one steeped in uncertainty which was eerily reminiscent of this time last year – uncertainty around COVID outbreaks, lockdowns on the eastern seaboard, all the greatest hits. Today we will look...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Understanding Centralised Crypto-Currency Exchanges
07 Sep 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
What we know today as a normal securities exchange structure can trace its roots back to the turn of the 17th century, when the Dutch East India Trading company established the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. As technology has evolved and new...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Historically Volatile”
03 Sep 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our Weekend Reading. There’s been no shortage of news this week, from Jackson Hole and the impact of Fed Chair Powell’s speech,
READ MORE
As we close out
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Will Keep Going Up (Unless It Goes Down)”
27 Aug 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading, It’s all going up, from
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Putting a Price on Emissions
26 Aug 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 7 mins
READ MORE
Whilst stuck indoors sheltering from the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, is it is sometimes easy to remember that we are tackling another existential threat: climate disaster. Earlier this month, a penultimate report from leading climate scientists globally gave us the dire...
READ MORE
If you distil the primary purpose of each corporate spending decision down to one fundamental principal, it should be to deliver at least one dollar of value (be it intrinsic or market value) for each dollar of business capital deployed....
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Aggrevating Listlessness”
20 Aug 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading, Like many people during these trying times – though some would argue that since the last year and half has been “trying”, it’s just become “these times” – the days often seem to roll...
READ MORE
One key area that many of our investors are interested in is small companies, or “small caps”, both domestic and international. In terms of domestic markets, we define the S&P Small Ordinaries as companies within the ASX 300 but below...
READ MORE
We have written about global healthcare trends in the past – healthcare is a logical theme to consider in a portfolio if you think it’s reasonable that people want to live longer lives with better treatment, particularly as they grow...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “The Bare Essentials”
13 Aug 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading. Reporting season is underway across a few different markets, and we already seeing the volatile reactions to mild earnings misses or announcements of off market share buybacks. There has been news that impacts the...
READ MORE
Yesterday, Jesse made the point that inflation is psychological. I’d like to take that one step further and assert that much of investing itself is psychological, more specifically how our own psychology helps us have conviction in an investment, when...
READ MORE
Many reading this note may remember a time before the internet, when the term “information superhighway” was used unironically and the most complicated pages out there were static text documents with some coloured text. The evolution of what we now...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Inside Looking Out”
06 Aug 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading. This week has been slightly more sedate on the ‘interesting news’ front, as we travel into reporting season perhaps markets and corporates are on their best behaviour. The biggest splash was created by Jack...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Analysing Primary Market Deals
05 Aug 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
As Jesse said earlier this week, investing is always interesting. As participants in capital markets, we are privy to a minute-by-minute update on where a vast collective of investors value a company, an economy or even a whole class worth...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Below Expectations”
30 Jul 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading, It’s been a week of economic releases, earnings expectations and watching the COVID numbers through the cracks in our fingers. The Biden Administration is surely pulling their hair out when a 6.5% annualised rate...
READ MORE
The “re-opening trade”, or the strategy of investing in stocks which are widely held to be beneficiaries of an economic re-opening after the COVID-19 pandemic, has been in play largely since late Q2 2020. Predicated on a rebound of earnings...
READ MORE
Afterpay (APT: ASX) is one of the true ‘disruptor’ stories of the last decade, an innovative business model taking market share from traditional consumer credit lenders and creating an ASX 20 company in the process. If we talk in terms...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Master the Disaster”
23 Jul 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading, The view out any office window in Sydney is quite grim at the moment, desolate streets where only the trams trundle along like particularly elongated wildebeests. With this thought in mind on Thursday, I...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
The Story of the Taper Tantrum of 2013
23 Jul 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
A key reason to draw parallels between our current markets and the situation immediately following the
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Déjà Vu”
16 Jul 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading. Did you know that delta is the ratio that compares the change in price of an option, to that of a change in the underlying stock? So, if there are 29 people infectious in the...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Go with the flow – Superfunds
16 Jul 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Capital flows - the movement of money into a particular asset class or market segment for the purpose of investment - are the impulse of demand, where increasing/decreasing levels of demand for a constant level of an asset will naturally...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Flying High – Sydney Airport Bid
13 Jul 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Last week Sydney Airport, Australia’s largest airport and one of Australia’s most well-supported listed infrastructure holdings, received an unsolicited bid to take the asset private. As an asset that is held in both an equity and debt form by many...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Is there anybody out there?”
09 Jul 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
For those of you in Sydney currently enduring “The Melbourne Experience” (which possibly would be paired well with the Jimi Hendrix Experience), we hope you are staying safe and vigilant. It has certainly been a week of ups and downs...
READ MORE
“Is this the next housing
READ MORE
“Let me be surrounded by luxury, I can do without the necessities!” In recent notes we’ve touched on the market outlook that people are getting wealthier, not disregarding the incentives by governments to spend through various stimulus measures, and that...
READ MORE
If you want an exercise in futility, try Googling “investing in exchanges” and try to find any commentary on buying a stock exchange, rather than just “how to buy stocks on an exchange”’. You could of course try, “why buy...
READ MORE
In extreme situations, humanity relies on three immediate “basic needs”: • shelter, • clothing, and • food. With the continual growth of our population across the globe - coupled with concerns about the impact on our agricultural land from over-farming...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Totally Not a Lockdown”
25 Jun 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading. Dedicated friends and readers, please forgive the relative brevity of this edition.It turns out a “work from home order” being announced as we work through listing proceedings for one of our private equity holdings and...
READ MORE
- Fixed Income
Risk-Off Series: Get Long (Duration)
25 Jun 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
What may be evident at this point in our Risk-Off series is that for each opportunity we have to make a risk management decision, there is often a corresponding opportunity to make gains within our portfolios. Touching on risk management...
READ MORE
- Multi-Asset
Risk-Off Series: Tail Risk and Alternative ETFs
22 Jun 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
As Jesse mentioned in the introductory note to this risk-off series, investors are constantly faced with the possibility of the extreme, be it to the upside or downside. During 2020 we were faced with both circumstances, with the global pandemic...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Return of the Hawks”
18 Jun 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading.
READ MORE
- Equities
Risk-Off Series: Investing in Long/Short Equities
16 Jun 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
In the multitude of notes we’ve written about equities, most will make a basic assumption that we are ‘long’, i.e. we are buying the security or fund with the view that the market is going up. But what if we...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Brave New World”
11 Jun 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading, One thing that might strike you about the common parlance around
READ MORE
Resources (‘Materials’), making up ~16.75% of the ASX (Bloomberg), has seen a particularly successful run over the last year, outperforming the ASX 200 index by just over 10%. The sector has historically been a very ‘boom or bust’ area of...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
An Introduction to Volatility
08 Jun 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
To expect a market pullback is to expect volatility. By its nature, volatility is inherent in a free market – prices are marked every second and millions of individual decisions along with it. Particularly since last year’s market collapse, volatility...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Everyone’s Gone Mental”
04 Jun 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading. You would be forgiven for thinking that some of the stories out this week are spoofs, parodies or hyperbole. Sadly not – it seems the market is occasionally intent on becoming a caricature of itself,...
READ MORE
In our Healthcare note a few weeks ago, we outlined the merits of investing into the sector from the point of view that the world is getting wealthier and older. As we get older, we spend longer ‘living with disability’...
READ MORE
Have you ever asked yourself why a certain company does not pay dividends, even when they are extremely cashflow positive? Furthermore; if a company whose success, share price growth and stratospheric valuation is based on accelerating earnings growth, what does...
READ MORE
All of these statements confirm one simple idea, that the momentum of markets is a critical factor to consider in the positioning of your portfolio. If you want the quintessence of momentum trading in one sentiment however, I would go...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Feeling Green”
28 May 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading. The market has taken a breather after throwing its toys out of the pram last week, with volatility significantly subdued and most global markets slowly drifting up. Given that I just said it’s been a...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Mysterious Dealings”
21 May 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading. A shorter note this week, because who ever said that Friday’s are less busy must have a sick sense of humour. Volatility has continued throughout this week, the VIX is getting a workout after a...
READ MORE
Private equity (PE) is often one of the most opaque and inaccessible investments, frustrated by three main issues; transparency, accessibility and liquidity. It is often difficult for an investor to pick the winners out of a vast majority of private...
READ MORE
The investment theme of Healthcare may carry some of the strongest emotional links in capital markets – it does not get much more sentiment-driven than considering our own quality of life and mortality. Today we will examine the global healthcare...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Volatile Materials”
14 May 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading. “Volatility” has been the word of the week, with markets indiscriminately crashing like a learner driver borrowing their dad’s Porsche. This has been hand-in-hand with ongoing Fedspeak around inflation, with the market seemingly unconvinced by...
READ MORE
Funds have been trading on listed exchanges since 1990, beginning life as ‘index trackers’ which sought to replicate the movement of the underlying index. From a single
READ MORE
With Afterpay dipping below $100 for the first time since December 2020, commentary has re-entered the market around the value of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) companies in general and the regulatory risks for this disruptive business model. Today we...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Breaking Apart”
07 May 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to Weekend Reading. Some market darlings have shown signs of breaking apart over the last few days, from the news of the Gates’ divorce, to Coinbase’s stock price, to Sydney’s formerly COVID-free lifestyle. Whether or not this represents...
READ MORE
The relationship between precious metals and inflation has been shown empirically in the past, including gold and the ‘white metals’, being silver, platinum and palladium. These are also “real assets”, physical pieces of ‘something’ which we believe to have some...
READ MORE
- Equities
Positive Energy Part 3: Geothermal and Nuclear
04 May 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
Concluding our green energy series, beginning with solar and discussing wind & water last week, today we examine the market, science and investible opportunities across geothermal power and nuclear energy as they exist today.
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “All The Money”
30 Apr 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading, We are in the midst of a largely positive U.S reporting season, with over 30 of the largest companies reporting this week alone (not counting this evening’s results). More on that later. There may...
READ MORE
As of late, the terms ‘short squeeze’, ‘call options’ and ‘
READ MORE
- Equities
Positive Energy Part 2: Wind and Water
27 Apr 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Continuing our series on renewable energy investing, today we look at the opportunities across wind power and hydroelectricity.
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Cutting and Collapsing”
23 Apr 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading. A lot of commentary throughout the market that we’re seeing “signs of a collapse”.What’s probably most interesting is what we’re not seeing commentary on; very few articles on NFTs lately, there are relatively few...
READ MORE
Gold. That’s a word that hasn’t been in popular favour for a few months. After reaching record levels and then subsequently shedding almost 20% last year, gold has represented a source of confusion and division within the market. Today we...
READ MORE
We’ve spent time discussing electric vehicles (EV) and the investable opportunities of their supply chain – but today we look to the technology which seeks to solve one of the largest problems our society faces today: power. Battery technology has...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Just Keep Throwing Money At It”
16 Apr 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading,We might as well have called this one, “So how about that Coinbase, eh?” A veritable landslide of headlines from around the markets, with the major trends of the week being ongoing economic stimulus and...
READ MORE
Continuing on from our EV note from last week, today examine investible opportunities across the entire supply chain – both as a focus on EV and a template to understand investments into other high tech themes. Knowing what you own,...
READ MORE
As a society we are witnessing a paradigm shift towards de-carbonisation, moving towards an increased usage on renewable energy sources and improving technologies across solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal and nuclear power. In the first of a three part note on...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Boom from Bust”
09 Apr 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading. A short week after the Easter Long Weekend, though no less filled with interesting stories. We’ve seen news coming out of global investment banks regarding Archegos, speculation and declarations about Bitcoin, Chinese bank loan...
READ MORE
After being a minority player in the auto industry for over 100 years, electric vehicles look set to re-enter the global stage as a leading alternative to combustion engines. As governments around the world look to cease the sale of...
READ MORE
As we close out the first quarter for CY2021 and a flurry of economic updates enter our inboxes, now seems like an appropriate time to take a closer look at the business cycle and its relationship to markets and the...
READ MORE
When considering the domestic equity exposure in a portfolio, one important consideration is what market capitalisation you are investing into. Much like different nations of varying economic size, different sizes of companies within the same economy offer different investment characteristics....
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Running of the Bulls”
26 Mar 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading,Some distinctly bullish news out this week, primarily focussed on continued U.S stimulus and cryptocurrency news sparking further rallies in everyone’s favourite form of monopoly money. Despite this, there are some points to cover off,...
READ MORE
Australian investors are all-too-familiar with property; owning anything from a piece of land to a newsagency is part of the great Australian dream. But when it comes to performance over the last year, and what economic sentiment you are expressing...
READ MORE
Infrastructure as an asset class seems to offer one solution to the ‘inflation hedge’ many investors are seeking in this current environment. Despite this, many investors have little to no allocation in the sector due to lumping it in with...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Schoolyard Antics”
19 Mar 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading, This week saw world-moving economic announcements and global dissonance around vaccines, which were treated in equal weighting by the news cycle to two world leaders slinging playground insults and Elon Musk delivering the best...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Exploring Current Market Psychology
18 Mar 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
Like a high school essay, let’s outline a thesis statement at the very beginning of this note: Anybody with the conviction, the capital and the aptitude should be able to access and participate in financial markets. Furthermore, investors should always...
READ MORE
Space, the final frontier. Although I am more of a Star Trek -Next Generation man, the words of Captain James T. Kirk have captivated human imagination since the 1960s, as an increasingly technological world looked to the stars for new...
READ MORE
In July this year, the Communist Party of China (CCP) will commemorate its 100th anniversary – and considering the global superpower is poised as one of world’s most robust economies after the pandemic, we can expect to see a party...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “What Goes Up”
12 Mar 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading.There are no middling stories anymore – either everything is going up, or else everything must come down. This week was a litany of rallies, collapses, new records and slumping potential. Like a frustrated parent...
READ MORE
For any multi-asset portfolio, the first steps for most investors will be their asset allocation decisions.What are my inflation expectations? How long is my investment objective? How much capital will be exposed to equities? What room does that leave for...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “A Series of Blow-Ups”
05 Mar 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading.A quieter week this week, littered with a lot of interesting stories that unfortunately mean we’ll need to harp on about Elon Musk and crypto again – don’t worry, I promise to make enough snarky...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Investing in Emerging Markets
04 Mar 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
Emerging Markets (EM) have been a compelling investment case for the last few decades. This has been for a number of reasons; Modern portfolio theorists like EM because it represents a risk diversification tool, both geographic and sector, across equities...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “The Roaring Tens”
26 Feb 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 7 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to the Weekend Reading It’s been a turbulent week, as I write this our market is redder than an English backpacker after a day in the sun and news of rising 10Y bond yields have created some particularly...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Banks and the Search for Yield
26 Feb 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
Now that the major bank results are sitting comfortably in our hindsight, and following on from our banks outlook earlier this month, today we’ll consider some further views from the street on bank stocks; both as a rotational play and...
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
A Guide to Performance Metrics
23 Feb 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
When reviewing a portfolio or managed product, advisers and investors are inundated with a variety of performance metrics, some of which may be outside their field of expertise and therefore are ignored in favor of the historical performance. This is...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “The Comeback”
19 Feb 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 9 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading. This week has been a story of ‘coming back’, for better or for worse. As LL Cool J said in 1990, “don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years, rocking my peers...
READ MORE
The equity market is the subject of a lot of polarization at the moment. In the minds of many vocal commentators, everything is either the next “big bull run”, or another sign of a bubble. Valuations are either stretched beyond...
READ MORE
By the time you read this, the Hong Kong stock exchange will have re-opened after Lunar New Year, with Shanghai bourse remaining closed until 17 February. Global stock markets are subject to seasonal influences throughout the year, as the usual...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “Here We Go Again”
12 Feb 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 6 mins
READ MORE
Welcome back to our weekend reading.Happy Lunar New Year to you all, may the Year of the Ox bring fortune, health and a continuing bull market if you’re long equities (an ox is a bit like a bull, right?)We first...
READ MORE
Yesterday, Commonwealth Bank (CBA:ASX) was the first of our major banks to report 1H21 results, firing the starting gun on what will be several weeks of news coming out of the largest ASX sector. In light of this we thought...
READ MORE
Investors do not always need to be economists. In fact, one of my favourite investors – Peter Lynch of Fidelity – is fond of saying, “If you spend 13 minutes on economics a year, you’ve wasted 10 minutes”. But despite...
READ MORE
- Wholesale Investments
Weekend Reading | “The Big Squeeze”
05 Feb 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 7 mins
READ MORE
- Equities
Healthcare Sector Overview and Outlook
04 Feb 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
It is undeniable that COVID-19’s impact upon our society and economy will be felt for decades to come. We are living amongst at an inflexion point in history, in which certain priorities have been brought into focus as the pandemic...
READ MORE
- Equities
Exposure to Cryptocurrency Through Stocks
03 Feb 2021 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 4 mins
READ MORE
Much like any other designated ‘financial services guy’ in a circle of friends, if I had a dollar for every time I have been asked about buying “cryptos”, I could probably afford one whole Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency has become the investors’...
READ MORE
As we all unwind after this tumultuous year, many of us will turn to music to relax and celebrate. But do we ever stop and consider the growth and change in how we consume that media? Or even, how can...
READ MORE
“Be a symbol of perfection,Be an object, be a cultTake their praise, take the collectionAs the multitudes exalt"Elton John, “It’s Tough To Be A God” Despite what we may read in the news of late, the world has become a...
READ MORE
“Could we have kippers for breakfast,Mummy dear, mummy dear,They got to have ‘em in Texas,‘Cause everyone’s a millionaire”Supertramp, “Breakfast in America” Not chasing hot picks and waiting to ‘buy the dip’ is generally the sage advice that an experienced stock-picker...
READ MORE
“I’m gonna keep on the runI’m gonna have me some funIf it costs me my very last dimeIf I wind up broke, oh wellI’ll always remember that I had a swingin’ time”Elvis Presley, “Viva Las Vegas” Now more than ever,...
READ MORE
After falling victim to COVID-19 in Q2, spending on online advertising has posted a strong recovery moving towards 2021. Today we follow this recovery and consider if we can use where this advertising spending is going, between regions and sectors,...
READ MORE
“Oh Superman where are you now? When everything's gone wrong somehow, The men of steel, the men of power Are losing control by the hour.” Genesis, “Land of Confusion” “So, what happens to Company X if China and the U.S....
READ MORE
- Macro & Markets
Generational Wealth Transfer
06 Nov 2020 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 5 mins
READ MORE
“And as he hung up the phone it occurred to me He’d grown up just like me, My boy was just like me” Harry Chapin, “Cat’s in the Cradle” One of the largest transferrals of wealth in history will occur...
READ MORE
“Don’t care if my liver is hanging by a thread, Don’t care if my doctor says I ought to be dead, When my ugly big car won’t climb this hill I’ll write a suicide note on a hundred-dollar bill.” Dire...
READ MORE
- Equities
Ant Group – The Biggest IPO in History
29 Oct 2020 |
By Max Pacella
READ TIME 7 mins
READ MORE
“Today’s financial system is the legacy of the Industrial Age – We must set up a new one for the next generation and young people. We must reform the current system.” Jack Ma, Co-Founder of Alibaba on Ant Group In...
READ MORE
“I’m on my way, I’m making it I’ve got to make it show, So much larger than life, I’m going to watch it growing” - Peter Gabriel, ‘Big Time’ To quote All the President’s Men (1976), “follow the money." Investors,...
READ MORE
“Well he cast his eyes upon her And the trouble soon began And Leroy Brown learned a lesson 'Bout messin' with the wife of a jealous man.” - Jim Croce, “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown” We live in the age of...
READ MORE
“Money, so they say, Is the root of all evil today But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re Giving none away.” Pink Floyd, “Money” The world is steadily gaining more wealth - with more money...
READ MORE
“Get on a TWA to the promised land. Every woman, child and man Gets a Cadillac and a great big diamond ring. Don't you know you're riding with the king?” Eric Clapton, B.B. King (2000) The adage that ‘cash is...
READ MORE
“But I'm all right Standing out here In the hot sun When I see the light I feel like More than just a number” Neil Young, Computer Age (1982) Apple can see your search history, Europe is protecting you, and...
READ MORE
“A noble craft, but somehow a most melancholy! All noble things are touched with that.” ― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick Hunting for whales I’ve been asked before to keep an eye on video game companies, often an overlooked part of the market,...
READ MORE
LOAD MORE
Subscribe for global market insight, unique viewpoints on investments and more.
Thank you for your subscription.
About Us
Your Partner in Growth.
Resource hub
Visit our online support & portal.
Contact Us
We are open Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm AEST.
Connect
Connect with us on LinkedIn..