A Belieber? As a recent attendee at a Justin Bieber concert with my daughter, we have found this 19 year old’s vocabulary entering our investment process. According to Wikipedia a “belieber” is a fanatical devotee of Canadian pop singer Bieber of which the vast majority are pre-teen and teenage girls who strictly defend and support their whippersnapper idol and many resort to extreme [Read More]
Is it all over for gold? Following our decisions earlier in the year to sell our bullion, and my weekly view two weeks ago on the topic, a number of articles have appeared about the gold crash of 14/15 April 2013 and the metals steepest decline in 30 years. Goldbugs have put on a brave face, quoting Bretton-Woods 1971 and the excessive money printing of all central banks as a very simple reason [Read More]
When to Switch When interviewing fund managers overseas, the question I often ask of them, is “what worries you most?” and in this vein I have to ask myself and the team the same question. In the world of equity investing, the question I am grappling with is, “when do we sell safe defensives and buy the beaten up cyclicals?” So far this year, we have seen clear market leadership with [Read More]
The latest MitonOptimal Group Quarterly Review for Q1 – 2013 is now available for download. [download id="204"] [Read More]
Rob MacDonald - Chief Operating OfficerAfter a six month period consulting to MitonOptimal last year, where Rob assisted in the formulation of MitonOptimal’s next 5 year strategic plan, Rob has joined the business on a more permanent basis. He brings a mix of both consulting and corporate experience to the business. Rob spent seven years at Nedgroup Investments, initially as the head of [Read More]
Overview The first quarter of this year was characterised by a strong risk on environment, or more accurately a very positive quarter for US and Japanese equities. These markets finished the quarter up over 8% in dollars, whilst the Emerging and European markets were barely positive. Bond markets were virtually flat, to slightly down, and much was made of the Great Rotation trade in the popular [Read More]
In money management terms high conviction investing is characterized by active management with a more concentrated low turnover investment approach. Several academic studies have considered the role of high conviction portfolios in determining active manger performance. One of these is a 2006 publication from an American Business school entitled “Fund Managers who take Big Bets”; the [Read More]
Traditionally investors have appointed investment managers to (actively) manage their exposure to asset classes – their asset allocation – and individual assets within each asset class – asset selection. Fund managers charge a fee for their service of constructing portfolios for their investors – either at the asset class or individual asset level, or both. In return for this they [Read More]
When seeking investment returns understanding your capacity for risk and the amount of time you are prepared to invest will ultimately determine what you get. This might seem obvious, but it is incredible to observe how many investors expect high returns with little or no risks at all. Some blame the hedge fund industry for supporting this notion, but I am willing to put my neck out here and [Read More]
Below please find our latest fund fact sheets as at the end of February 2013. MitonOptimal Core Diversified Fund The objective of the fund is to achieve long term growth and absolute returns with limited volatility. The fund diversifies across cash, bonds, equities, alternative strategies and property using a multi-asset and multi-manager approach. The fund aims to outperform USD Libor +4% [Read More]
