US household debt has surpassed the 2008 peak – should we be concerned?
The recent quarterly report on US household debt published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that as of March 31, 2017, total US household debt of $12.7 trillion has surpassed the peak level in 2008. This milestone has been a long time coming, and has been touted as both a reflection of […]
Not all platforms are created equal
Last week, Andrew Macken shared some thoughts on what we believe will be the business model of the future – the Online Technology Platform. Many of the largest businesses in today’s world, such as Apple, Amazon, Alibaba, Facebook and Tencent are technology platforms. However, not all platforms are created equal, and it would serve investors […]
Who are the businesses of the future?
In football, a successful player does not run to where the ball was, or where it is right now. They run to where the ball is going to be. The same idea is followed by successful investors. They are typically less interested in the successful businesses of yesteryear, or even today’s success stories. For successful […]
Passive Investors – What is your thesis?
The debate as to the merits of investing passively or actively rages on. And over recent months, we have observed a sharp acceleration of flows into passive equity strategies – largely at the expense of active equity strategies. Source: Citi We have argued in the past that, in a lower-returning world, “locking in” the market […]
The Retreat from Free Trade
Despite the numerous benefits of free trade, countries are increasingly reverting to protectionist policies that have long been absent from the recent decades of globalization. The post-World War II paradigm has been one of increasingly open cross-border flows of capital and labor, the proliferation of free trade agreements, as well as millions being lifted out […]
Is tax reform really easier than healthcare reform?
Last Friday, the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare and overhaul the US healthcare system came crumbling down without even going to a vote. President Trump acquiesced to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s request to withdraw the American Health Care Act (“AHCA”) from consideration after it became apparent that the bill did not have enough Republican votes […]
We’re all global investors now
The decision to invest globally is one that all investors will face at some point. And for investors based in relatively small economies like Australia – which represents less than two percent of global gross domestic product – this decision is even more important. The case for investing a significant share of one’s portfolio abroad […]
Unveiling the Obamacare Replacement
On Monday 7 March, 2017, the House GOP unveiled its plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Obama’s signature healthcare mandate required nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance, using the proverbial stick to push Americans towards healthcare coverage. The plan announced by House Republicans, on the other hand, uses a system of tax credits to […]
Certainty is dangerous in an uncertain world
Investing is not a simple process. It involves drawing conclusions from incomplete evidence in an ever-changing world. But if we think about how our minds work when confronted by these uncertainties, then we are taking an important step to making better investment decisions. Imagine you are a contestant on a quiz show along with an […]
China’s Impossible Trinity
You may have heard a lot of discussion about Chinese capital controls and its currency exchange rate recently. It’s a fascinating subject, though one which is poorly understood. You see, in macroeconomics, there is a concept called the “impossible trinity”. It basically states that, of the following three characteristics, a country/currency area can have any […]
