Insights

First quarter earnings are in, and profits are booming.

Consistent with trends in past budgets, the 2021 Federal Budget saw the Commonwealth Treasurer identify a further A$15.2 billion in new spending on major infrastructure projects, keeping the decade-long infrastructure investment program at A$110 billion. This will spearhead the Federal Government's efforts to boost both jobs and productivity in the COVID-affected national economy.

Over the past decade, ESG awareness, focus and reporting has been increasing among asset owners, companies, and investors alike. The global listed real estate industry is no different, and as investors in this space we have seen significant improvements in recent years in ESG disclosure and initiatives.

It’s that time in the cycle again. US bond markets and commentors are worried about inflation. But with US unemployment at 6.2%, should this be a concern?

While the speed of ultimate decarbonisation remains unclear, there appears to be a real opportunity for multi-decade investment as every country moves towards a cleaner environment.

The year 2020 was extraordinary for most risk assets. As we wrote in last month’s Investment Perspectives, the unprecedented fiscal response to the pandemic caught some investors wrong-footed.  

The year 2020 will be remembered for many events. Besides COVID-19, there were the Australian bushfires and US political turmoil. 

To state the obvious, 2020 was a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges the likes of which individuals, businesses and governments have never experienced before. The impact of this was to push an otherwise pretty robust global economy into recession, force lockdowns and create social dislocation on a previously unimaginable scale. 

With the spectre of COVID-19 now diminishing in the wake of new vaccines, some investors are rightly refocusing their attention on longer-term risks and fundamentals.