Our take on the current market volatility
Commsec’s Tom Piotrowski interviews our Chief Investment Officer, Andrew Macken, about the current market volatility. Andrew shares his analysis of the current economic scenario in the wake of Brexit, US-China relations and various other macro economic factors. Have a look at the video now to gain some valuable insights by clicking here.
Complete Rubbish: The Fascinating World of Waste
As we delve deeper into the cycle it is worth considering businesses that are less reliant upon a strong economic backdrop and don’t need buoyant conditions to thrive. Such companies are sometimes referred to as ‘defensive’ names. However, as we have explored several times on this blog in the past, traditional ‘defensive’ names can contain […]
Aussie property bulls are back
Over recent weeks, we have observed a wave of activity in the major Australian property markets that suggest the recent downturn may well be over. At the heart of the apparent resurgence, as is usually the case, is: policy, policy and more policy. First on the monetary side of things, policy from the Reserve Bank […]
Sorry to Burst Your (Healthcare) Bubble
While many lament the sad state of the U.S. healthcare system, with U.S. healthcare expenditure being multiples of other developed nations on a per capita basis, attempts to reign in this inflating healthcare expenditure have been ineffective, with the gap widening between U.S. healthcare spending and that of other comparable countries. However, there are a […]
Digging Deeper into Iron Ore
While there is no physical shortage of iron ore on earth (fourth most abundant element on the planet), from time to time markets forget this overarching fact and in response to transient supply disruptions, can materially distort price levels of the commodity. The current iron ore market exhibits such characteristics visible from the price of […]
A Deep Dive into Chinese Cemeteries
The Montaka team has recently done some research on the Chinese death care industry. Clearly a unique space both as an investment opportunity and otherwise, I thought our insights might be novel and interesting for our readers. The industry is underpinned by a deep connection to China’s cultural history, with traditional funeral processes such as […]
IPO investing: Mind the GAAP
The disappointing public market debuts of private market darlings Uber and Lyft, and the nervous handwringing of their unicorn compatriots waiting in the pipeline (WeWork, Airbnb, Slack to name a few), serve as another reminder to investors of the importance of sound financial analysis using financial metrics that bear some semblance to reality. In order […]
As democracies fragment, autocracies strengthen
Are democracies fragmenting? It certainly appears so. In numerous democratic political systems around the world, we are seeing a rise in the success of minor parties and independent candidates. Major parties – on both sides of the political spectrum – that have dominated for generations are failing to retain their vote. Power is increasingly being […]
Cruise Lines: Smooth Sailing or Heading for an Iceberg
The team at Montaka Global recently looked at the cruise line industry and thought it might be interesting to share some of our insights with our investors and friends of the firm. The cruise line Industry is highly consolidated with the three largest players representing ~80% of industry revenues. Carnival / CCL is the world’s largest cruise line […]
Boeing Failures Illuminate Greater Software Challenge
“If x: do y; else: do z.” The beauty of software is in its ability to eliminate human error; a computer can be trusted to execute code accurately every single time, all at incredible speeds while occupying minimal space. But what happens when the code is so complex that the humans writing it cannot identify […]
