With Europe struggling to bring its government and bank solvency crisis under control, the yields on Italian and Spanish bonds have soared to dangerous levels, while those of supposedly safe-haven countries, the US, Germany, Japan, have rallied to record lows.
Two year German bond yields actually went negative – so some investors have been paying the German government simply to mind their money like a safety deposit box. This means markets are pricing in seemingly worst case scenarios for Europe’s bank and government debt problems.
I refer to ‘supposedly’ safe-haven countries, because, their own debt levels, in both absolute terms and in proportion to their GDP, are at historically high levels. Also, their exposure to any broader economic malaise, and their own unfunded future liabilities and ageing populations, means that today they are arguably as great a credit risk as they have ever been. And in the case of Germany, it is under pressure to somehow guarantee the debt burdens of its southern neighbours.
It just goes to show that perceived risk and safety is all relative. Simply put, the flight to safety has few other places to go.
Now there is no doubt that we are living in risky times, particularly while Europe tries to sort out the mess it has gotten itself into.
However, what investors do need to understand is that with all this extreme risk priced into ‘safe-haven’ government bonds, any sustainable resolution to the Euro problems, and a more stable outlook for the global economy, would see yields increasing and therefore real capital losses for these ‘safe-haven’ investors. Alternatively, these countries could simply keep printing more money and debase their currency and the real value of their bonds.
In contrast to ‘safe-haven’ government bonds, the general risk aversion created by the recent turmoil in Europe, has seen credit spreads on quality corporate bonds widen to present their best value in some time.
While it is undoubtedly a risky environment as Europe (hopefully) sorts out it problems, the bottom line is that quality corporate bonds are currently rewarding investors quite well for the risks.
And investing in floating rate corporate bonds that are linked to benchmark bank bills means their credit spreads (or reward for the credit risk above bank bills) are locked in, regardless of the broader economic conditions, interest rates and inflation.
Michael Korber
Head of Credit
Michael has been Head of Credit since joining Perpetual in August 2004. He is responsible for the ongoing strategic review and development of process, reviewing the weekly credit process and reviewing the analysis of all new credit securities.
Michael has over 24 years industry experience and prior to joining Perpetual worked as the first Head of Credit at Macquarie Funds Management, spending six years developing its credit investment processes and building the business from inception to over $7 billion in funds under management. Prior to this, he spent seven years as Divisional Director in Corporate Banking and four years as second in charge to the Head of Macquarie Bank Credit. Earlier, he had spent five years as a Credit Analyst with Westpac Corporate Banking.
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Tue, 04 Sep 2012
Asian markets were mixed on Monday with the MSCI Asia Index flat as gains in China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Australia were offset by declines in Japan and Singapore. Asian markets were under early pressure as investors noted how China's slowdown was impacting regional supply chains – and taking its toll on exporters in the process. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Thu, 30 Aug 2012
The highs and lows in Europe continue. Overnight, European markets opened once again in the red and in the first hour were down at their daily lows. But the release of an opinion piece by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in a German newspaper strengthened expectations that a major announcement on measures to address the European debt crisis was imminent and sparked a rally after Mr Draghi wrote that “exceptional measures” were occasionally needed by the ECB to ensure monetary policy was effective. More »
By Adam Curtis | Senior Portfolio Specialist, Income and Multi Sector
Adam has over 12 years’ experience in the financial markets. Having graduated with an International Business degree in 1997, Adam joined Bankers Trust, working in the funds management and margin lending business. In 2000, Adam moved to London and joined the Bank of New York for the next two years, where he worked on the fixed income desk and serviced a range of institutional clients across mainland Europe.
Upon returning to Australia, Adam was hired by CPG Advisory, a specialised Asset Consultancy based in Sydney. He worked there for nearly five years, providing advice and assistance in managing the investment portfolios of some of the firm's largest wholesale clients. In August 2008, Adam was recruited as Senior Portfolio Specialist at Perpetual in the Income and Multi Sector business where he represents Perpetual's capabilities across multi sector, fixed income and alternatives investment strategies.
Wed, 29 Aug 2012
Over the past five years, many investors have been attracted to term deposits as a way of meeting their needs for low risk investment, lured somewhat by the government guarantee on deposits. However, what many investors don’t realise is that the government guarantee is only applicable on term deposits of up to $250,000 and beyond this level, no guarantee of capital exists. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Mon, 27 Aug 2012
In the wake of a weak day in the US on Thursday, and a tough Asian session on Friday where Hong Kong, Japan, China and South Korea all fell by over 1%, European markets over the weekend opened in negative territory. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Thu, 23 Aug 2012
The impressive rally in global sharemarkets and corporate bonds over the past six weeks is showing signs of fatigue. Over that time, investors have piled into technology, consumer discretionary and financials shares in Northern Hemisphere markets, as additional policy support by regional central banks was factored into prices. The apparent sector rotation comes despite signs that global growth prospects are waning, as illustrated by recent data that showed Japan recorded its largest ever trade deficit in July. Yesterday, Asia had a down session as investors concern about a lack of a policy response by Chinese authorities saw widespread losses. This provided a challenging lead for Europe. More »
By Vivek Prabhu | Senior Portfolio Manager - Strategy & Risk
Vivek has been Portfolio Manager/Credit Analyst since joining Perpetual Investments in August 2004 and is responsible for credit analysis, portfolio construction and trading.
Vivek has over 15 years industry experience and prior to joining Perpetual worked for eight years at Macquarie Bank as an Analyst, Compliance Manager, Assistant Portfolio Manager (Fixed Interest & Currency) and Credit Analyst. Prior to that he spent four years as an accountant/auditor at Coopers & Lybrand (PwC).
Wed, 22 Aug 2012
The Australian Government introduced the Financial Claims Scheme in October 2008, strengthening protection for depositor holders of authorised deposit taking institutions to reassure investors about the safety of their deposits. This followed the introduction of similar measures taken by other countries in response to concerns around the availability and cost of funding for banks, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and its impact on the stability of the global financial system. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Mon, 20 Aug 2012
After a strong Asian session in which all major regional indices were higher (led by Australia (+0.9%), Japan and Hong Kong (both up 0.8%) and China (+0.1%)), the scene was set for a good end to the week in Europe. It was green lights all the way on screens on Friday night as markets extended gains and touched multi-month highs as hopes for more Eurozone support and further signs of improvement in global economic data boosted sentiment around the Northern Hemisphere. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Wed, 15 Aug 2012
Yesterday saw a solid Asian session where all major regional indices were up after the minutes from the Bank of Japan’s latest policy meeting showed some board members supported further liquidity measures. European markets opened solidly last night with momentum aided by some better-than-expected GDP results. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Mon, 13 Aug 2012
Asia ended last week with a disappointing session in which Chinese data underwhelmed and regional sharemarkets were all down. Data for July continues to suggest that the soft landing in the Chinese economy has not been reached yet. Indeed, a slowdown in industrial production (IP) growth (from 9.5% to 9.2%), a plunge in annual export growth (to 1% from a double-digit pace in 2011) in July and tepid bank lending (which missed analyst forecasts by a wide margin) all point to the Chinese recovery being weaker, and coming later, than many investors had hoped. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Fri, 10 Aug 2012
Despite a strong Asian session (in which stocks in Hong Kong and Japan rose +1.0% following data from China which suggests that the economic boost remains elusive, but inflation dropped again, providing the Bank of China with more scope to support growth), the performance on the London and European stock exchanges, last night, was a complete repeat of the night before. The German and UK markets were down early (the former troughing at -1.0%) before staging a late surge to close flattish for the second day in succession. More »
By Jonathon Crook | General Manager Fixed Income
Jon joined Perpetual in October 1999. He has over 15 years experience in the financial services industry and is currently responsible for the Fixed Income business at Perpetual. Previous to this role Jon held a number of positions in both Adviser Distribution and Institutional Sales and Service within Perpetual. Before this, he spent three years with Count Financial Group. Jon has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of New South Wales and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia.
Wed, 01 Aug 2012
As a result of the global financial crisis and the ongoing volatility in financial markets, investors have awakened to the vital role fixed income can play in generating reliable income and protecting capital.
However, fixed income is a very broad asset class, which includes everything from quality bonds backed by major governments and corporates to high yield, high risk junk bonds. It is therefore vital for investors and advisers to understand what drives the underlying risks and returns of different types of fixed income assets and how they can contribute to an overall portfolio. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Mon, 23 Jul 2012
After five days of gains across global sharemarkets, weak economic data, rising concerns about Spain and a weak lead from Asia (with Australia (-0.1%), India and China (both -0.7%) and Japan (-1.4%) all down) finally caught up with Northern Hemisphere markets. Spain was the primary trigger as its Government's borrowing costs soared to a new Euro-zone high as fears that its weakening economy won't recover until 2014. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Fri, 20 Jul 2012
After another good Asian session (where Australia (+2.0%), Hong Kong (+1.7%) and Japan (+0.8%) lifted), markets in the Northern Hemisphere took the baton and continued the climb, pushed along by another series of good earnings results from US blue-chip companies. The results pushed the US market up to fresh two month highs. The gains followed the release of better-than-expected earnings results for IBM, eBay and Intel, which outweighed a disappointing result from Morgan Stanley and a raft of economic data disappointments which showed rising jobless claims, a fall in existing home sales and a weak Philly Fed Index. More »
By Jonathon Crook | General Manager Fixed Income
Jon joined Perpetual in October 1999. He has over 15 years experience in the financial services industry and is currently responsible for the Fixed Income business at Perpetual. Previous to this role Jon held a number of positions in both Adviser Distribution and Institutional Sales and Service within Perpetual. Before this, he spent three years with Count Financial Group. Jon has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of New South Wales and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia.
Thu, 19 Jul 2012
Investing in fixed income is not like investing in equities or many other asset classes. Fixed income is different because bonds offer asymmetric returns, i.e. when a fixed income asset such as a government bond is purchased, the upside is known. The interest or coupon over the term of that bond and the repayment of the capital is known, assuming the issuer does not default. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Tue, 17 Jul 2012
After a strong performance on Friday night and a positive Asian session, global sharemarkets were a bit mixed last night. The bulls went back to their corrals as concerns about global growth resurfaced following the International Monetary Fund’s modest downgrade to global growth for 2012 (to 3.5%, but some fairly sizable downgrades to the UK, with cuts also for China to 8%, India to 6.1% and Brazil to 2.5%). The IMF stated that its lower forecast is contingent on fast policy action to solve the European Debt Crisis, which has proven to be somewhat allusive thus far. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Thu, 12 Jul 2012
There were some important developments overnight, but major markets were fairly tame trading between +0.5%. Spain came out and announced €65 billion of tax rises and spending cuts as part of a deal to secure the €100 billion bank bailout package with the European Commission. This included cuts to unemployment benefits and public service salaries, and increases in sales taxes. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Mon, 09 Jul 2012
Well markets were under a tri-angulation of fire on Friday night and sharemarkets, cyclical currencies and commodity prices were all down. Initially, it was reported that the European Summit agreement will not be enforceable until late-2013, rather than late-2012 given all the legislative changes required. In addition, governments will be forced to issue guarantees before any bailout funds are provided to regional banks. This soured investor sentiment as the original plan was to break the link between government and bank funding stress, but unless loans are guaranteed, why would a country like Italy (who has more debt than any other country in Europe) raise E20 billion at 6% and lend it to a bank, get 0% (as stressed banks will not be making dividend payments) and wear potential credit risk? More »
By Charlie Lanchester | Deputy Head of Equities
Charlie is Deputy Head of Equities and Portfolio Manager for 70% of the Industrial Share strategy and 100% of the Australian Sustainability strategy. He also analyses a small number of stocks in the healthcare and gaming sectors.
Charlie joined Perpetual Investments in May 1999 as an Analyst covering a broad range of sectors, and assumed portfolio management responsibilities from 2002.
Charlie began his career as a Graduate Trainee at Schroder Investment Management in London. After five years he relocated to Australia and joined Platinum Asset Management as an Analyst focusing on global telecommunication companies.
Charlie studied modern history at New College, Oxford and has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours). He is also an Associate of the Society of Investment Professional (part of the CFA).
Tue, 03 Jul 2012
The Australian listed property sector was one of the most heavily sold sectors during the global financial crisis, due to highly leveraged balance sheets and falling asset values. Since then, these companies have restructured their debt and simplified their business models, and this has progressively opened up some investment opportunities. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Mon, 02 Jul 2012
As we approach the 43rd anniversary of the moon-walk, we are reminded of all of the small steps that, through time, culminated in probably mankind's biggest achievement for the twentieth century. The US did not just design a rocket and decide to go; there were six Mercury program missions, 10 Gemini program missions and 11 Apollo missions, which lay the foundation for the events in July 1969. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Fri, 29 Jun 2012
Markets are short-term focused at present with sentiment swinging on a daily basis between bargain hunting and pessimism. More »
By Vivek Prabhu | Senior Portfolio Manager - Strategy & Risk
Vivek has been Portfolio Manager/Credit Analyst since joining Perpetual Investments in August 2004 and is responsible for credit analysis, portfolio construction and trading.
Vivek has over 15 years industry experience and prior to joining Perpetual worked for eight years at Macquarie Bank as an Analyst, Compliance Manager, Assistant Portfolio Manager (Fixed Interest & Currency) and Credit Analyst. Prior to that he spent four years as an accountant/auditor at Coopers & Lybrand (PwC).
Thu, 28 Jun 2012
The domestic bond market is almost twice as large as the market capitalisation of Australia’s listed equity market.
In addition to the protection bonds offer investors by virtue of their preferred position in a company’s capital structure, fixed income investments also offer investors a valuable source of portfolio diversification, typically having a low correlation to equities, being lower in risk and offering more predictable returns. More »
By Jorden brown | General Manager Adviser Distribution
Jorden joined Perpetual in April 2005 and is responsible for managing the Retail Advised strategy within Perpetual's distribution Group. Within Perpetual, Jorden has held a number of National Account Management and Business development roles. Before joining Perpetual, Jorden worked at Macquarie Bank and Rothschild Australia Asset Management in Business Development roles. Jorden holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Charles Sturt University.
Fri, 22 Jun 2012
The dramatic changes over recent decades in most people’s lifecycle of work, marriage, family formation and retirement, have created huge challenges for people trying to plan for the future, and their financial advisers. More »
By Vince Pezzullo | Portfolio Manager / Senior Analyst
Vince is the Portfolio Manager for 30% of the Industrial Share strategy and Senior Analyst covering mainly large cap industrial companies, in particular banks, property trusts and telecommunications.
He joined Perpetual in July 2007 as an Analyst and since that time has covered the chemicals, diversified financials, banking, telecommunications, building materials and REITS sectors.
Prior to joining Perpetual, Vince was a senior portfolio manager / analyst in the large cap Australian equities team at Deutsche Asset Management and led the top 100 equities team. In addition, he had stock research responsibilities across a large number of sectors. He also worked in corporate finance and foreign currency for Monte Paschi Australia Limited.
Vince has a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Economics and Finance.
Wed, 20 Jun 2012
Following the global financial crisis and the failure of Lehman Brothers, there was an increase in the scrutiny of financial institutions and the introduction of more stringent regulations on the sector. More »
By Jack Collopy | Portfolio Manager
Jack is the Portfolio Manager of the Smaller Companies strategy and an Analyst covering small cap companies across a range of sectors.
Jack joined Perpetual in November 2001 as an Investment Administrator and Equity Dealer. After four years, he moved into an Analyst role focusing on small cap industrial companies. Jack took on portfolio management responsibilities in June 2010.
Prior to joining Perpetual, Jack gained two years industry experience working in London as an Equities Dealer and Investment Administrator at both Salomon Smith Barney and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Jack has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.
Tue, 19 Jun 2012
We’ve held STW Communications in our portfolios for a number of years, but recently it’s become one of my favourite stocks because it has a number of the key characteristics I look for. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Mon, 18 Jun 2012
On the day when East Germans voted against government-enforced austerity 49 years ago, the Greek election was run and the pro-austerity New Democracy party (ND - which attracted just 29.9% of the vote, which is 88% complete) is poised to be invited to form a coalition government by the Greek President. World leaders, financial markets and European authorities all breathed a collective sigh of relief with the result, with the anti-austerity left leaning Syriza party (26.7%) coming in second. In a strange twist the total of the anti-bailout parties (46.2%) was higher than the pro-bailout parties (41.8%), but the largest party (the ND) is awarded 50 extra seats under Greek rules for having more votes than anyone else (that, apparently, is democracy for you). More »
By Michael Korber | Head of Credit
Michael has been Head of Credit since joining Perpetual in August 2004. He is responsible for the ongoing strategic review and development of process, reviewing the weekly credit process and reviewing the analysis of all new credit securities.
Michael has over 24 years industry experience and prior to joining Perpetual worked as the first Head of Credit at Macquarie Funds Management, spending six years developing its credit investment processes and building the business from inception to over $7 billion in funds under management. Prior to this, he spent seven years as Divisional Director in Corporate Banking and four years as second in charge to the Head of Macquarie Bank Credit. Earlier, he had spent five years as a Credit Analyst with Westpac Corporate Banking.
Tue, 12 Jun 2012
With Europe struggling to bring its government and bank solvency crisis under control, the yields on Italian and Spanish bonds have soared to dangerous levels, while those of supposedly safe-haven countries, the US, Germany, Japan, have rallied to record lows. More »
By Vivek Prabhu | Senior Portfolio Manager - Strategy & Risk
Vivek has been Portfolio Manager/Credit Analyst since joining Perpetual Investments in August 2004 and is responsible for credit analysis, portfolio construction and trading.
Vivek has over 15 years industry experience and prior to joining Perpetual worked for eight years at Macquarie Bank as an Analyst, Compliance Manager, Assistant Portfolio Manager (Fixed Interest & Currency) and Credit Analyst. Prior to that he spent four years as an accountant/auditor at Coopers & Lybrand (PwC).
Fri, 08 Jun 2012
Sovereign bonds represent a loan made to a national government, typically denominated in that country’s currency. Traditionally, they were considered risk free, as sovereigns could either print money or raise taxes to repay their debt when it fell due. In the case of countries in the European Union with a common currency, individual countries can’t unilaterally print currency to repay debt. Concerns surrounding the credit quality of some sovereigns, such as Italy and Spain, have seen yields on their government debt soar. More »
By Matthew Sherwood | Head of Investment Market Research
Matthew is Perpetual Investment’s Head of Investment Markets Research. In his role, Matthew conducts research on and acts as an external voice on the Australian and global economies, financial markets and portfolio strategies.
Matthew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist and central banker. Prior to joining Perpetual Investments in 2005, he worked as an Investment Research Manager at ING Investment Management and before that he was a Senior Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he gained significant experience in monetary policy formulation. Matthew has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Masters Degree in Economics (Finance and Econometrics) from the University of Sydney.
Thu, 31 May 2012
Market commentators love their abbreviations. At the moment Grexit (or Greek exit) is a hot topic in Europe, but the main game for investors may be Spanic (or Spain panic). More »
By Paul Skamvougeras | Portfolio Manager
Paul is the Portfolio Manager for the SHARE-PLUS Long-Short strategy, the Pure Equity Alpha strategy and the Concentrated Equity strategy.
Paul rejoined Perpetual Investments in February 2010 as a Portfolio Manager, having previously spent seven years with Perpetual. He began his career with Perpetual in 1994 in a back office role, moving into a dealing role after three years, working his way up to the Head Dealer role.
Between stints at Perpetual, Paul spent seven years working at CPH/Ellerston Capital, where he had portfolio management responsibilities for an Australian long/short strategy for the first four years and a global long/short strategy for the last three years.
Paul has a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University and is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Fri, 18 May 2012
Oil Search is an oil and gas exploration and development company that operates all of Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) productive oil and gas fields. There are a number of reasons why I like the stock. More »
By Jack Collopy | Portfolio Manager
Jack is the Portfolio Manager of the Smaller Companies strategy and an Analyst covering small cap companies across a range of sectors.
Jack joined Perpetual in November 2001 as an Investment Administrator and Equity Dealer. After four years, he moved into an Analyst role focusing on small cap industrial companies. Jack took on portfolio management responsibilities in June 2010.
Prior to joining Perpetual, Jack gained two years industry experience working in London as an Equities Dealer and Investment Administrator at both Salomon Smith Barney and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Jack has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.
Wed, 16 May 2012
G8 Education Limited is the only child care centre operator listed in Australia (ASX code: GEM) and there are a number of reasons why I like the stock. More »
