Global Head of Research, Smartkarma

Mark Artherton

Global Head of Research

Ecstrat

Ecstrat is a consultancy advising on asset allocation between global equity markets, with a focus on the intersection of governments, geopolitics, governance and markets.
 
Over the past few years and more especially since the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), investors have become more focused on short-term market movements and real-time returns and have consequently neglected the analysis of the underlying structural themes that underpin longer term performance.
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More specifically we believe that the evolution of governance-based relationships between investors, controlling shareholders, labour and the state is one of the primary determinants of both relative and absolute performance between individual equity markets.
 
We will endeavour to provide investors with some of the context surrounding governance-related issues which encompass many different disciplines including history, economics and political science, as well as the financial metrics which are the most obvious manifestation of the structural characteristics of each market.
 
We will pay particular attention to the shifts and potential inflection points for governance in individual markets as these are often the best lead indicators for both economic and market performance.

Macroeconomics

<div class="content-highlight"><p><strong><em>The failure to use or the aggressive implementation of asset write downs in emerging markets and Asia will have far reaching implications for investors.</em></strong></p></div><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p><p>We live in a world where investors are uncertain about asset values both in financial and non-financial companies.  Whilst a lot is written about the nature of bad debts at banks, little has been comprehensively written about the balance sheets of non-financial companies.</p><p>We see the following evidence in our analysis:</p><p> </p><ul><li><div class="content-highlight">The failure of some…</div></li></ul>

The failure to use or the aggressive implementation of asset write downs in emerging markets and Asia will have far reaching implications for investors. We live in a world where investors are uncertain about asset values both in financial and non-financial companies.  Whilst a lot is written about the nature of bad debts at banks, little has been comprehensively written about the balance sheets of non-financial companies.We see the following evidence in our analysis: The failure of some…

FX Strategist

Greg Gibbs

Fundamental analysis of topical themes in FX

Amplifying Global FX Capital

Amplifying Global FX Capital was founded in 2015 and is fully owned by Greg Gibbs. It is a registered company both in Australia and Colorado, USA and is a licensed in Australia to provide financial services.

We are producing a regular trading view orientated macroeconomic analysis of topical themes in global financial markets, with a particular focus on foreign exchange. We invite you to view an “executive summary” of these reports in “AmpGFX Reports” under our “Research” menu.

These reports are drawn from the analysis of Greg Gibbs and inform the capital management he undertakes on behalf of the company. The trading performance is posted periodically on our website. We aim to build our company into both a research and capital management business. We are currently in the planning phase for managing capital for wholesale customers.

Greg Gibbs has spent his working life of more than 26 years in financial markets, beginning in 1989 at the Reserve Bank of Australia, after completing a Bachelor of Economics Degree (Honours) at the Australian National University. He has been a CFA Charterholder since 2005. He has worked in Sydney, Singapore, New York and London for major global banks and presented on foreign exchange markets to major financial institutions and companies around the world, and maintained a high profile in the financial media.

Before Amplifying Global FX Capital, Greg was the Head of Asia Pacific Market Strategy at the Royal Bank of Scotland based Singapore. He now resides in Breckenridge Colorado.

<p><em>Domestic Australian factors are being overshadowed by global developments.  These global drivers account for both its rapid rebound over the last month and its significant correction in recent days.  Throughout this move we have been skeptical that the AUD can sustain its rally with significant local political and economic uncertainty.  These risks remain and continue to make it difficult to hold long AUD positions.  On the other hand, political and economic uncertainty in many alternative currencies are equally troubling. In Australia, economic momentum picked up in 2015, but has been more mixed in 2016.  The housing market is starting to ebb from strong levels, political risks remain elevated, bank equity performance has been weak, potentially a drag on confidence.  However, Global drivers remain in control, and while uncertainty is elevated in Australia, it is not clear that it will be sufficient to throw the Australian economy off course.  The RBA Statement continued to express a steady policy outlook albeit with an easing bias.</em></p>

Domestic Australian factors are being overshadowed by global developments.  These global drivers account for both its rapid rebound over the last month and its significant correction in recent days.  Throughout this move we have been skeptical that the AUD can sustain its rally with significant local political and economic uncertainty.  These risks remain and continue to make it difficult to hold long AUD positions.  On the other hand, political and economic uncertainty in many alternative currencies are equally troubling. In Australia, economic momentum picked up in 2015, but has been more mixed in 2016.  The housing market is starting to ebb from strong levels, political risks remain elevated, bank equity performance has been weak, potentially a drag on confidence.  However, Global drivers remain in control, and while uncertainty is elevated in Australia, it is not clear that it will be sufficient to throw the Australian economy off course.  The RBA Statement continued to express a steady policy outlook albeit with an easing bias.

AmpGFX - AUD in No Man's Land, Political and Economic Risks Remain Elevated

Founder Evidente. Top rated quantitative analyst, Evidente

Sam Ferraro

Founder Evidente. Top rated quantitative analyst

Evidente

Evidente is an independent financial education firm that delivers innovative financial advice to wholesale investors, including active long only funds, hedge funds, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds, in Australia and globally.  Drawing on academic research in asset pricing, behavioural finance and portfolio construction, Evidente provides wholesale investors with commercial solutions to stock selection and asset allocation decisions across equities and other asset classes.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>In this post, Evidente extends its systematic model of earnings certainty to Australian small caps.  The out-performance from large caps with high earnings certainty evident in 2015 was also present amongst small cap stocks.  The top 10 ranked small industrials earnings certainty stocks delivered an annual return of around 8%, well above the stocks with the lowest earnings certainty (-2%).</li><li>The REIT sector dominates the updated top 10 earnings certainty stocks.  The fact that most small cap REITs are trading a significant premiums to book value precisely at a time when commercial rental yields continue to deteriorate suggests that pricing around the sector is becoming increasingly complacent.  I stop short of recommending an outright short position in the sector due to the prospect that commercial rental yields could remain lower for longer thanks to low interest rates and ample liquidity globally.</li><li>I recommend overweight bets in the remaining four top ranked stocks that are not exposed to commercial property: Auckland International Airport, Fisher &amp; Paykel, Sky City Entertainment Group and Brickworks.  These four stocks rank in the top quartile across Evidente's market sentiment signals, which incorporate price momentum and acceleration measures.</li></ul>

In this post, Evidente extends its systematic model of earnings certainty to Australian small caps.  The out-performance from large caps with high earnings certainty evident in 2015 was also present amongst small cap stocks.  The top 10 ranked small industrials earnings certainty stocks delivered an annual return of around 8%, well above the stocks with the lowest earnings certainty (-2%).The REIT sector dominates the updated top 10 earnings certainty stocks.  The fact that most small cap REITs are trading a significant premiums to book value precisely at a time when commercial rental yields continue to deteriorate suggests that pricing around the sector is becoming increasingly complacent.  I stop short of recommending an outright short position in the sector due to the prospect that commercial rental yields could remain lower for longer thanks to low interest rates and ample liquidity globally.I recommend overweight bets in the remaining four top ranked stocks that are not exposed to commercial property: Auckland International Airport, Fisher &amp; Paykel, Sky City Entertainment Group and Brickworks.  These four stocks rank in the top quartile across Evidente's market sentiment signals, which incorporate price momentum and acceleration measures.

Beware Complacency Around Australian Small Cap REITs Risk Exposures

<div>In a speech today, Christopher Kent, Assistant Governor, flagged that the RBA expects the speed of China's economic development to ease further, and for the composition of growth to evolve, reflecting four key developments.</div><ul>
<li>Slower growth of the working age population (which is largely baked in).</li>
<li>Urbanisation to continue albeit at a more gradual pace.</li>
<li>The still large productivity gap between China and advanced economies to narrow further, the speed of which is subject to the implementation of…</li>
</ul>

In a speech today, Christopher Kent, Assistant Governor, flagged that the RBA expects the speed of China's economic development to ease further, and for the composition of growth to evolve, reflecting four key developments.
Slower growth of the working age population (which is largely baked in).
Urbanisation to continue albeit at a more gradual pace.
The still large productivity gap between China and advanced economies to narrow further, the speed of which is subject to the implementation of…


Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>Most active funds tout their ability to discriminate between good and poor quality management, and accordingly weight their portfolios towards businesses that they consider to be well managed.&nbsp; In the past decade, portfolio managers have also boasted of their ability to identify and invest in companies that score strongly across environment, governance and social (ESG) dimensions.</li></ul><ul><li>In the second instalment of Evidente's Dissecting Quality series, I show that management quality and corporate governance matter more for complex companies, where shareholders face high monitoring costs. To that end, I develop a systematic model of complexity and agency costs for the ASX200 based on eight company specific factors.</li><li>Some of the industrials that make up the top 20 complex stocks include: Qantas, Amcor, Computershare, Seek and Brambles. Investors can use the model to integrate their assessments of company management and corporate governance. In particular, investors should avoid complex stocks that score poorly across management quality and governance practices.</li></ul>

Most active funds tout their ability to discriminate between good and poor quality management, and accordingly weight their portfolios towards businesses that they consider to be well managed.&nbsp; In the past decade, portfolio managers have also boasted of their ability to identify and invest in companies that score strongly across environment, governance and social (ESG) dimensions.In the second instalment of Evidente's Dissecting Quality series, I show that management quality and corporate governance matter more for complex companies, where shareholders face high monitoring costs. To that end, I develop a systematic model of complexity and agency costs for the ASX200 based on eight company specific factors.Some of the industrials that make up the top 20 complex stocks include: Qantas, Amcor, Computershare, Seek and Brambles. Investors can use the model to integrate their assessments of company management and corporate governance. In particular, investors should avoid complex stocks that score poorly across management quality and governance practices.

Dissecting Quality: When Does Management Quality and Corporate Governance Matter Most?

Australia

Brickworks Limited manufactures and distributes clay products including brick, paver and floor tile products.  The Company also has investment interests in unlisted and listed companies along with property development activities.

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Brickworks Ltd (BKW AU)

Beware Impairments in EM and Asia

The failure to use or the aggressive implementation of asset write downs in emerging markets and Asia will have far reaching implications for...

Mark Artherton

AmpGFX - AUD in No Man's Land, Political and Economic Risks Remain Elevated

Domestic Australian factors are being overshadowed by global developments. These global drivers account for both its rapid rebound over the last...

Greg Gibbs

Beware Complacency Around Australian Small Cap REITs Risk Exposures

In this post, Evidente extends its systematic model of earnings certainty to Australian small caps. The out-performance from large caps with high...

Sam Ferraro

RBA Downbeat on Commodity Price Outlook

In a speech today, Christopher Kent, Assistant Governor, flagged that the RBA expects the speed of China's economic development to ease further,...

Sam Ferraro

Dissecting Quality: When Does Management Quality and Corporate Governance Matter Most?

Most active funds tout their ability to discriminate between good and poor quality management, and accordingly weight their portfolios towards...

Sam Ferraro

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