The FinSec View

Welcome to 2022The new year began much like the last two ended, in the grip of daily Covid updates. 2020 gave us Wuhan, the Ruby Princess, lockdowns and a new normal. Despite the hope for better in 2021, Delta proved the undoing of NSW and Victoria, and even with the vaccine rollout, Omicron is still making hay the world over.It is easy to slip into negativity and fixate on the uncertainties that remain, however, whilst we acknowledge these challenges we [...]

Issue: 10th December 2021 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Decorations are out in force, trees adorn every office, and many Australians, newly out of lockdown, are out painting the town a festive shade of red. And while we have suffered through a touch of volatility over the past few weeks, December, as it has in previous years, has started with a bang (the ASX200 and S&P are both up around 2%). It is quite extraordinary to [...]

Issue: 26th November 2021 This week President Joe Biden declared that he would re-nominate Jerome Powell as chairman of the US Federal Reserve (his current term expires in February). After what has been quite a drawn-out selection process, it is indeed encouraging that Mr Biden has, at last, made the obvious choice, opting for a 'steady pair of hands'. Many investors have been hoping for this outcome - Given the delicate task ahead for the Fed, an experienced voice [...]

Issue: 12th November 2021 Climate change concerns and energy woes dominated the global economy these past few weeks as nations attended the UN’s Climate Change Conference (COP26). In something of a conundrum, Global leaders were tasked with presenting a compelling case to continue their aggressive fight against climate change right when the demand for fossil fuels (and energy prices) has never been higher. None-the-less climate change affects us all and the need to work together is essential - A [...]

Issue: 29th October 2021 As we head into the final quarter of 2021 cautious optimism, both economically and socially sums up our feeling at present. Sydney and Melbourne are emerging from their long lockdowns, summer is coming, and Australian vaccinations rates are high and moving higher. If we look to similar countries overseas, high vaccination rates are increasingly allowing people to move back towards the lives they’re used to living. The pandemic is moving off the front pages and [...]

Issue: 15th October 2021 The inflation drums grow louder every day. This week former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said the US economy is overheating, and a shortage of Labor is another factor pushing up prices. He criticised the Federal Reserve's lack of action as inflation surges. The International Monetary Fund says the global economy is entering a phase of inflationary risk, and it called on central banks to be "very, very vigilant" and take early action to tighten [...]

Issue: 1st October 2021 Over the course of the last 12 months, the world has progressed through three broad phases of a recovery. The first, occurring in Q2 and Q3 of last year was around the growing understanding of the COVID virus and its management through containment measures. Large cap, growth biased stocks benefited at this time. The second phase, around Q4 of last year, centred on positive news on the efficacy of multiple vaccines, Biden elected as President [...]

Issue: 17th September 2021 The September curse strikes again. The S&P/ASX 200 has fallen nearly 2 per cent since the start of the month and is down 3 per cent from a peak a month ago, placing the benchmark on track for its first monthly loss since September last year. The decline comes despite increasingly good news on vaccination rates, which are edging higher with a greater local supply of vaccines, bringing closer the potential end to lockdowns in [...]

Issue: 3rd September 2021 Next Thursday, the FinSec team head off for our annual offsite. In FinSec terms, this means two constructive days away from the office as a team, workshopping our processes, improving on our client journeys and planning out the year ahead. As our offices back onto the showgrounds, normally, offsite is an escape from the hustle and bustle of show week. But, for a second year running there will be no show and showbags are once [...]

Issue: 20th August 2021U.S. equities traded in a volatile session overnight, as investors assess the Fed’s likely taper later this year, rising cases of COVID-19 and deaths in the U.S. and ongoing pressure on supply chains.Details from the July meeting of the US central bank showed most policymakers judged that it could be appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year, although there was some division over when to start and how quickly to dial back the [...]