Sustainable innovation – the new frontier
The asset management industry is in a solid position to support a more sustainable future by embedding ethical factors into every stage of the investment process. It also has a role in sponsoring new, greener industries while encouraging traditional sectors to evolve. However, to achieve these goals, it’s clear that some creative thinking will be…
The pandemic has changed the future of work
Remote work is ensconced. A ‘Great Resignation’ is underway in the US. Neither might last. On 8 January 2020, a 61-year-old woman from Wuhan landed in Thailand’s capital Bangkok. Within five days, she became the first recorded case of covid-19 outside China. On February 20, the mayor of Daegu, South Korea’s fourth-largest city, became the…
Energy sectors in the transition to net zero
In the latest of our stories that look beyond profit, Schroders’ Peter Fullerton explains the critical role that energy companies like Ampol play in the transition to net zero. How does the world move to a more sustainable future? One school of thought is that we need to divest from companies with a high exposure…
There’s no magic jobless rate to increase Australian wages
With the official unemployment rate now 4.2% – the lowest since 2008 – Prime Minister Scott Morrison has predicted a rate “with a 3 in front of it this year”. The Reserve Bank of Australia agrees, forecasting unemployment below 4% in coming months. Many economists have been surprised at how quickly employment has rebounded from…
Fed turns from friend to foe
At its January meeting, the Federal Reserve took no policy action, in line with expectations. The Fed’s main objective this month was to communicate its next steps for the tightening cycle that is being kicked off this year. The statement provided new guidance on the lift-off of rates which “will soon be appropriate” and on…
Metaverse: Does it meta?
The buzz around the “metaverse” has gone into overdrive as the technology that could make it a (virtual) reality draws closer and internet giants make big bets on its success. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? And does it ‘meta’ for investors? This time it could be different We’ve been here before….
Can VW catch Tesla in the electric vehicle race?
Tesla’s vehicle deliveries soared in 2021 but legacy automakers are running a marathon, not a sprint. Tesla raised some eyebrows last month as it unveiled an 87% year-on-year rise in vehicle deliveries to over 936,000. In terms of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), this puts it some distance ahead of its European rivals, including Volkswagen AG…
Fed Caves on Tightenings
At mid-December’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Fed officials began discussing quantitative tightening. Effectively selling previously-monetized bonds to unwind quantitative-easing money printing, this revelation from the minutes rattled markets in early January. But hawkish-jawboning talk is cheap, as the Fed’s last QT campaign proved. It was prematurely abandoned after stock markets threatened a bear. The…
Opportunities in the energy transition
The signs of a low carbon economy are almost everywhere in today’s world. As we transition to a low carbon economy, a considerably large investment universe is starting to emerge. Here we identify 8 key investment opportunities as we pave the way for a low carbon world. What a low carbon economy looks like The…
Gold Stocks Surge Back
The gold miners’ stocks surged back this week, blasting higher out of early-year weakness. Those big-and-fast gains were fueled by gold’s own, which shot up without any news catalyst. Seeing battered gold stocks showing signs of life has piqued traders’ interest, starting to shift sector sentiment back towards bullish. These leveraged plays on gold have…
