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Feb 2018What high household debt means for investors
“High house-hold debt is Australia’s Achilles heel,” says AMP Capital Head of Investment Strategy and Economics and Chief Economist, Shane Oliver. “I’ve been thinking this for many years now and yet it seems to keep going higher.” Latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics puts total household liabilities at $2.466 trillion, or 199.7 percent of disposable income, putting it among the highest in the…
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Feb 2018Equities riding on fear not fundamentals
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” said Franklin D Roosevelt at his inauguration as US President in 1933. I think “the only thing we have to fear is the fear index itself” is a better description of where investors are at right now. It’s been a wild ride on Wall Street and beyond of the past week – the worst in…
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Feb 2018The problem with the active vs passive debate
How did we find ourselves here? It’s a question I ask myself whenever I come across an article or when I’m drawn into a discussion comparing index fund returns with the after-tax returns of active fund managers. And I’m asking it a lot lately. As head of AMP Capital’s Multi Asset Group, the debate is usually misdirected by the time it gets to me, considering…
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Feb 2018Industrials: top pick for real estate sector
The sudden market realisation that US borrowing costs are likely to rise significantly this year will drive demand for real estate investments that offer income growth, according to AMP Capital Head of Real Estate Research Luke Dixon. The US stock market endured its biggest plunge in six years earlier this week, triggering ongoing volatility across the globe, as investors started to factor in the chance…
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Feb 2018Monetary Policy Decision – Statement by Philip Lowe, RBA Governor, February 2018
At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 1.50 per cent. There was a broad-based pick-up in the global economy in 2017. A number of advanced economies are growing at an above-trend rate and unemployment rates are low. Growth has also picked up in the Asian economies, partly supported by increased international trade. The Chinese economy continues to grow solidly, with…
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Jan 2018How to make 2018 money friendly
As the Christmas decorations get packed away and life for many returns to normal, AMP Capital is encouraging customers to consider their finances when setting their resolutions for 2018. Instead of making vague promises like “get fit” or “pay down debt” AMP Capital Head of Retail of Retail Business Manuel Damianakis recommends people set more specific resolutions to grow their wealth during the year. “Consider…
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Dec 2017Debunking 3 myths about listed infrastructure
Did you know it takes 957 gallons of water to create a single Big Mac? Some 550 million Big Macs are consumed each year in the US alone. That’s a lot of water. But we simply wouldn’t have Big Macs without the infrastructure to filter and transport water to each part of the Big Mac production process. It’s easy to forget that infrastructure is a…
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Dec 2017Monetary Policy Decision – Statement by Philip Lowe, RBA Governor, December 2017
At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 1.50 per cent. Conditions in the global economy have improved over 2017. Labour markets have tightened and further above-trend growth is expected in a number of advanced economies, although uncertainties remain. Growth in the Chinese economy continues to be supported by increased spending on infrastructure and property construction, although financial conditions have tightened…
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Nov 2017Could our mortgage monster become the Christmas Grinch?
The disappointing retail sales figures from the last quarter could be just the tip of the iceberg for those watching the retail sector heading into Christmas, reckons Dermot Ryan, AMP Capital’s Portfolio Manager – Australian Equities. But it’s not likely to be the so called “Amazon effect” of internet shopping, nor competition from fast fashion retailers, or even unfavourable currency swings Ryan is factoring in…
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Nov 20174 steps to help protect portfolios against political risk
When Australia’s High Court ruled deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce ineligible to sit in Parliament because of his dual New Zealand citizenship, the decision briefly sent tremors through equity and currency markets. It was a clear reminder that political risk matters to markets. We face troubling political and geopolitical risk across the world: Trump, Brexit and, above all, the risk of nuclear confrontation with North…