Shares still compelling as ageing population chases income

Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 24-Oct-14

Experts advise investors to focus on equities that are likely to benefit from so-called megatrends such as population growth, ageing societies and the rising of the middle class. Yield will be the primary consideration for investors. With a 10-year government bond yielding only about 3.2 per cent, investors are likely to choose equities instead

CORPORATES
SANOFI PHARMACEUTICALS, COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY, JOHNSON AND JOHNSON, SABMILLER PLC, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED

Investors ‘too bold’

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 25-Sep-14

Financial markets anticipate that Australian companies will achieve eight per cent growth in earnings per share in 2014-15. However, Matt Sherwood of Perpetual believes that this may be too optimistic, noting that the economy is forecast to expand by just 4-5 per cent. Meanwhile, BT Investment Management is bullish about Australian shares, and expects stocks to deliver an annual return of 10 per cent over five years

CORPORATES
PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, DELTEC INTERNATIONAL GROUP, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Hedge funds chase self-managed super billions

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, Gretchen Friemann
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 10-Sep-14

There is growing interest in listed investment companies (LICs) in Australia, and hedge funds believe that these investment vehicles may allow them to attract capital from self-managed superannuation funds. Ellerston Capital and Global Wealth Partners are among the hedge funds that have launched investment vehicles that are modelled on LICs. It is estimated that SMSFs now hold some $A550bn

CORPORATES
ELLERSTON CAPITAL PTY LTD, GLOBAL WEALTH PARTNERS FUND LIMITED – ASX GWP, WHITEHAVEN FUNDS, ZG ADVISORS PTY LTD, BLUE SKY CAPITAL INVESTMENTS LIMITED, PERSHING SQUARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP, RF CAPITAL PTY LTD

Cyclical stocks could win favour as interest rates rise

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 22-Aug-14

There is general consensus among economists that the Reserve Bank of Australia will eventually begin to tighten monetary policy. Graham Harman of Russell Investments notes that cyclical stocks in particular tend to benefit from an increase in interest rates. However, David Sokulsky of UBS says historical analysis shows that stocks such as infrastructure, banks and utilities have been adversely affected by a rise in interest rates

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RUSSELL INVESTMENTS PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Don’t make any sudden moves

Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 12-Aug-14

The Australian sharemarket’s longer-term trading average is about 14.5 times forward earnings, and the general consensus is that this represents fair value. However, the forward price-earnings ratio of blue-chip industrial stocks in the S&P/ASX 100 is currently nearly 17 times, compared with a long-term average of around 15 times. Telstra, Wesfarmers, James Hardie Industries and Amcor are among the stocks that contribute to this

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC – ASX JHX, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, RAMSAY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX RHC, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, HENDERSON GROUP PLC – ASX HGG, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

The future of mega-cap stocks

Original article by James Frost|Matthew Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 23-Jul-14

The S&P/ASX 20 Index has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 in the last 12 months, as well as the last three and five years. The composition of the ASX 20 has changed significantly over the last five and 10 years, and astute investors can potentially enjoy big returns by backing the right stocks. Johan Carlberg of Alphinity Investment Management says companies whose focus is the domestic market could be displaced by peers that pursue growth offshore. Paul Taylor of Fidelity says healthcare and technology stocks could potentially be elevated to the top 20 index in coming years

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 20 INDEX|STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX|ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD|FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD|PERENNIAL GROWTH MANAGEMENT|AUSTRALIAN ETHICAL INVESTMENT LIMITED – ASX AEF|NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS|FOSTER’S GROUP LIMITED|ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED|SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK|WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES|WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW|APPLE INCORPORATED|EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION|FIDELITY AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES FUND|FACEBOOK INCORPORATED|GOOGLE INCORPORATED|HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO|MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED|NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM|FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG|WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL|ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG|SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO|OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH|BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP|RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO|TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL|S&P DOW JONES INDICES LLP|WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD|SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG|SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD|MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Sunshine brings winter of discontent to stocks

Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 22-Jul-14

Climate modelling suggests that there is a strong chance of Australia experiencing another El Nino phenomenon late in 2014. The unseasonably warm weather during the winter has already adversely affected the sales of some retailers. Tim Rocks of the Commonwealth Bank says stocks in a range of sectors could be hurt by a protracted period of warm weather. These include GrainCorp, Nufarm, AGL Energy and Suncorp Group

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, NUFARM LIMITED – ASX NUF, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, INCITEC PIVOT LIMITED – ASX IPL, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, DAVID JONES LIMITED – ASX DJS, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, KATHMANDU HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX KMD, PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED – ASX PBG, THE REJECT SHOP LIMITED – ASX TRS, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, SUPER CHEAP AUTO, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CSR LIMITED – ASX CSR, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CARNEGIE WAVE ENERGY LIMITED – ASX CWE, DYESOL LIMITED – ASX DYE, SILEX SYSTEMS LIMITED – ASX SLX, ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED – ASX ENE, BLUGLASS LIMITED – ASX BLG, INFIGEN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX IFN