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At AlbaCore, we focus on the long-term. As one of Europe’s leading alternative credit specialists, we invest in private capital solutions, opportunistic and dislocated credit, and structured products. 

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Specialist in Asia Pacific, China, India and South East Asia and Global Emerging Market equities.

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Our philosophy is very simple. We are constantly searching for high quality businesses and when we acquire them, we will work relentlessly with them to create long-term sustainable value through innovation, ESG-led and proactive asset management.

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formerly Realindex Investments

Leader in active quantitative equities across Australian equities, global equities, emerging markets and global small companies.

Backed by a unique blend of research, portfolio construction and risk management, focused on uncovering original insights and translating them into investment strategies that are active and systematic, aiming to generate alpha.

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At Stewart Investors, we believe in putting people first. Our investment world-view is of a series of partnerships – with each other, with our clients, with the companies we invest in, the people who buy their goods and services, and with the wider society in which we all live and work.

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Your search returned more than 50 results. The 50 most relevant results are displayed.

For several decades the world has looked to the US for stability and order. Following the ‘surprise’ election result that had the prevailing politicians and pollsters aghast at hearing the words, ‘President-elect Trump’, gives a sense that the stability we have come to expect from the US can no longer be assured.
If the BoJ continues to buy bonds at its current pace, the Central Bank will own the entire market by 2025. With negative rates and a dysfunctional bond market, where are Japanese investors turning to offshore now?
After a very slow start to its monetary policy normalisation process, with only one rate hike in both 2015 and 2016, the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) today entered a new, more active phase for monetary policy.
In this economic research note, we look at the Fed's next steps, examine the central banks' revised economic forecasts and look at the financial market implications of today's hike.
French consumer confidence has reached a 10 year high following the election. The question will now be, can it be sustained and can President Macron follow through on his promises?
With Brexit and Trump fresh in the memory, financial markets were looking for the next domino to fall...
Following the downturn of the last 5 years, our 20 years of experience in resources investing leads us to believe the sector is positioned for a brighter 2017. Why?
Global credit markets have been challenged in 2018 and spreads have widened. Asian issuers have not been immune from this volatility. Following another default by a Chinese issuer, our Asian Fixed Income and Emerging Markets Debt team take stock of where markets are currently, what opportunities (if any) are present in the region, and outline how investors can gain exposure to the asset class if desired.
More data has been created in past 2 years than in the entire previous history of the human race. Technologies like apps, are underpinned and supported by data centres, which present a compelling investment opportunity for equities investors.
In today's economic research note, we break down the headline budget numbers, summarise key policy initiatives and explore their implications for key asset classes.
Recent high frequency economic data in China is showing good momentum - and with growth of 6.9% in H1 17, the Chinese economy is clearly on track to outperform the ‘at least 6.5%’ economic growth target for 2017.
Pilbara iron ore leads the global market for this in-demand resource. Watch this video with Head of Australian Equities Growth, Dushko Bajic, for an outlook for the iron ore trade.
If “they” are right, then there is virtually never a bad time to be fully invested. The term "volatility” has become a euphemism. What people mean when they say, “markets have experienced some volatility” is that markets have gone down. You never hear a financial commentator bang on about those pesky volatile stocks that are up every single day and breaking new highs.
We believe bond market demand in Asia represents an opportunity for fixed income investors. There are many factors driving this positivity; Asia’s strong growth outlook relative to other parts of the world, its demographics, the diversification within the universe of issuers and compared volatility and returns with other fixed income markets. As we look towards a post-Covid world, what case can be made for investing in Asia USD Investment Grade Credit?
After an extended period where inflation expectations in Australian financial markets have been declining, the evidence is mounting that this trend may have run its course. The most recent example of this is last week’s new ten year inflation linked bond issue from the Australian Government, where around A$5 billion of interest was expressed for a A$3 billion transaction.
One of the most significant developments in global bond markets in recent years has been the collapse in term premium.The fact that the term premium is currently negative in Australia, and showing very little sign of heading substantially higher, is likely related to..
With the unemployment rate at 4.4% (ie. lower that the Fed’s long-run estimate) and most measures of the labour market on an improving trend the Fed is likely to remain committed to returning monetary policy to a more ‘normal’ setting and won’t be derailed by two months of softer inflation.
Experts agree that climate change and global warming pose systemic risks to the world economy, with major impacts on the availability of resources, the price and structure of the energy market, the vulnerability of infrastructure and the valuation of companies. But from a macroeconomic level, little has been done.
As Australians mull over the concept of good vs bad debt and the various policy announcements in the lead up to next week’s Commonwealth Budget, it is important to remember the revenue line.
Benchmark Relative. Absolute Return. Total Return? Global unconstrained? Here our global fixed income team demystify some of the common language used to describe approaches to fixed income investing – explaining the differences – and how they can be applied to various objective-based strategies within a broader portfolio.
Much has been made of the Australian dollar’s (AUD) recent rally against the US dollar (USD). After spending much of 2016 and the first-half of 2017 averaging around $US0.75, the rally in the AUD to closer to $US0.80 in late June and early July has led the market to the question; what does a higher AUD mean for monetary policy and the broader economy?
By 2030, Millennials will represent the largest source of income and consumer spending, earning two out of every three dollars in Australia. There are implications for the investment industry.
The performance of the Australian economy over 2017 to date can best be described as mediocre. The end of the mining investment downturn is near, the consumer environment is challenging while there are ongoing concerns around a build-up of risks in the housing sector.
There’s a reasonable chance of achieving your investment objective over the long term by sticking to the plan. Not so fast! Here's why it's time to review your approach to asset allocation with volatile times ahead.
In recent years we have been hearing a great deal about digital ‘disruption” and how it has been re-shaping the global economy and the society we live in. But are we focusing too much on the digital drivers and not enough on other areas of disruption across the economy?
Office real estate is undergoing a fundamental shift, while COVID-19 has accelerated a number of global real estate investment trends, including the continued growth and adoption of e-commerce and falling home ownership.
Value investors have seen their portfolios soar, while growth stocks have languished. In this paper we look at some of the drivers behind recent market moves, including the effect of rising interest rates, earnings disappointments and the subsequent de-rating of growth stocks.
When Australia posted its GDP growth results in the first quarter of 2017, the numbers told two stories. Growth was on one hand, the slowest posted since the GFC-induced slowdown in 2009. It also saw the nation overtake the Netherlands as having the longest uninterrupted period of economic growth of a major nation. The headlines hid a second story...
In 2020, one group of companies has done particularly well – the popular digital technology companies focused on e-commerce, delivery and entertainment, to name a few industries. In emerging markets, they dominate the Chinese market; but they can also be found in Korea, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. We do not own many of these in the strategy; and as such, we are often asked: What holds us back? After all, they have performed well and – at least on paper – should have the prerequisite to generate strong returns and free cash flow, given their often high gross margins, negative working capital profiles and asset light nature. While we are not disputing the potential for this in the future, we would argue for cautiousness on most of these projections.
Given the packed legislative agenda, and previous issues passing legislation around the debt ceiling, are there some downside risks that markets are ignoring?
This year’s August 2024 reporting season has concluded with most ASX-listed companies disclosing their profit results and guidance for the 2025 financial year ahead.
With robots and AI getting better and better at these specific tasks it seems natural to ask, when will they replace human workers? According to 352 AI experts there could be a significant change in many areas...
Recently many investors and market participants have been perplexed as the VIX and volatility in general have decreased – even given the backdrop of rising political uncertainty and geopolitical risk. Here we analyse the factors currently keeping volatility low and use history to explore why the VIX may not be the best measure of risk and uncertainty.
Unlike the US and UK self-storage markets, the Australian self-storage is not institutionalised. Yields and capitalisation rates are higher in Australia. Given the stability of the cash flows, the localised nature of the assets and the high barriers to entry for development, the mispricing of the Australian self-storage market is material offering compelling risk adjusted returns for investors.
One of the biggest economic mysteries since the end of the GFC has been the lack of wages growth globally, perplexing policy makers for whom it has become a key indicator of monetary policy. We may need more than low unemployment to generate wages growth or inflation and given growing inequality globally, it might be time for governments to step up with alternative policies.
While the wild swings in share, credit, currency, and commodity markets have garnered most of the attention in the months following the COVID-19 outbreak, cash markets in Australia have seen some highly unusual movements that demand further scrutiny.
We had entered the meeting with a leading air-conditioner company in our portfolio worried about the risks to its growth and profitability, as the second wave of Covid-19 affected consumer demand and raw material costs rose sharply. But the company’s CEO told us about the acceptance of increased prices by their channel partners and customers and strong demand before localised lockdowns were introduced in April. The company had reported a 24% growth in sales and more than doubling of its operating profit in the quarter ended March 2021, compared to the same period last year. He was optimistic about an improvement in their profitability despite a significant increase in raw material costs and was continuing their investments in expanding capacity.
COVID-19 has sent shockwaves through capital markets, and property securities have been no exception. The crisis has plunged the global economy into recession and has given rise to the remote work and learning thematic, while seemingly fasttracking the rise of e-commerce. These well documented trends have rightly called into question the long-term outlook of office buildings and shopping malls, among other types of real estate, which has seen some investment industry pundits subsequently question whether property securities is still a prudent place to gain liquid exposure to real assets. The answer is a profound ‘yes’. In this piece, we explore how the global property securities universe is much more than just office buildings and shopping malls, offering active investors a plethora of compelling investment opportunities in the current environment.
Once again, 2021 was a year full of surprises and challenges, with ongoing Covid disruptions and China turning from a global outperformer to underperformer. The Chinese government’s policy crackdowns, especially in the internet, education and property sectors, were sudden and dramatic. Meanwhile, inflation globally has moved from “transitory” to an ongoing threat to stability, coercing central banks like the US Federal Reserve to tighten from record levels of money supply, with its dampening effect being felt on correspondingly high stock prices. Fed tightening will likely affect Hong Kong markets as well, given the city’s currency and interest rates linkage to the US. Over the past year, the Hang Seng Index has underperformed the Shanghai Composite by nearly 20 percentage points, mostly in the second half of 2021 as US inflation heated up, and the premium of A-shares over H-shares widened for large companies listed in both markets. The year ahead also looks like a mixed picture — China is turning more accommodative in its policies but new Covid variants and persistent inflation remain key risks. The question on many investors’ minds is whether China can claw back its strong performance of previous years, which seems fitting as we enter the year of the tiger in the Chinese horoscope.
In our last client update in February 2021, we discussed the reasons we resisted the temptation to switch into pure cyclicals and so-called “value” stocks1 — even though we had anticipated a sector rotation in the market (the TOPIX subsequently peaked in March 2021). When there is a rise in inflation from very depressed levels it usually favours value and cyclicality, as pricing power returns to sectors that had been under pressure, no matter how temporary the effect. As such, since the Covid vaccine breakthrough last November, a number of lagging sectors, such as mining, commodities, shipping and banks, enjoyed a strong rally to which our Japan strategy had virtually no exposure. Given the commoditised nature of these businesses, and their less attractive outlook and long-term growth sustainability compared to the companies in our portfolio, it is hard to call investments in these securities anything more than a macro trade. Nevertheless, not owning them does not mean that the FSSA Japan Equity strategy is not positioned for the global recovery that is being supported by rising vaccination rates and economic re-openings.
Global listed infrastructure underperformed in 2023 owing to rising interest rates and a shift away from defensive assets. Relative valuations are now at compelling levels. Infrastructure assets are expected to see earnings growth in 2024 and beyond, aided by structural growth drivers.
While the pandemic is still far from over, a number of key leading indicators point to a healthy and broad-based recovery in China. Industrial production, trade activity and retail sales have been strong; and in stark contrast to the lockdowns and travel restrictions in early 2020, domestic travel, tourism and the leisure sectors in China have sprung back to life.
An overview of the Asian Equity Plus and Asia Pacific Small-Caps strategies in August 2020.
On the anniversary of Lehman's collapse and as Typhoon #10 approached Hong Kong, Martin Lau spent time reflecting on the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and here discusses if lessons learned are enough to steer us clear of another global financial crisis.
The pandemic has accelerated certain long-term shifts in consumer behaviour, such as using more online orders for everything from clothing to food. The latest battleground appears to be groceries, but the disrupter emerged from a not-so-new technology — WeChat groups. China’s online e-commerce giants such as Meituan and Pinduoduo are now taking market share from the traditional grocers via community group buying (CGB), which began only four years ago and went mainstream during Covid-19. In this form of e-commerce, leaders of WeChat — or other platforms which recently entered the market — collect orders and have the goods delivered the next day to pick-up spots in their members’ communities. In between, the orders are aggregated by the platforms and transmitted to the upstream suppliers which deliver the goods.
Since our last update, global markets have not been short of action and the manic behaviour characterising today’s markets has taken investors on another rollercoaster ride. While not quite comparable to the market movements seen during the dark days of March 2020, the recent correction — especially in China-related companies — has been notable. Yet, from a market perspective, a sense of normality is finally starting to emerge after the more speculative phases over the past 12-18 months. Companies related to the Work- or Consumed-From-Home environment are starting to discount a more realistic outlook and, equally, franchises with good long-term prospects that were experiencing temporary uncertainties caused by the pandemic have, for the most part, regained some of the lost ground as their underlying business fundamentals continue to improve.
Head of Global Property Securities Stephen Hayes: Global city populations continue to grow, driven by urbanisation. The provision of housing for growing populations is a major challenge for many countries and cities. Adequate housing is a factor that influences a city’s mobility of labour, social wellbeing and commerce levels. Government housing policies are typically viewed holistically with policies covering social, private and rental housing. New supply is not always efficient and can be problematic particularly in densely populated cities.
The outlook for the global economy and financial markets looks more uncertain today than it has for a long time. Both interest rates and inflation have risen sharply. There is a growing consensus that much of the world will shortly be experiencing slowing economic growth.
In our last client update, written through the depths of Covid-despair, we observed that real life and the world of markets are seldom so intimately entwined. With markets swinging violently to the downside on a riptide of fear, it was clear even then that activity was being driven by short-term anxiety rather than a real evaluation of Asia’s longer-term value-accretion prospects.
All of us have been brutally confronted by a new reality in the last few months. It has certainly been crude, with financial markets swinging around on a riptide of greed and fear, as we the participants have vacillated between elation and despair. It is not surprising. Life and the world of markets are seldom so intimately entwined.