Please access the video via the link below, featuring Andrew Mouchacca, one of the Portfolio Managers of the Flinders Emerging Companies Fund:
Some of the things we talk about in our meetings with clients and the correspondence we send out, are that we remain comfortable and confident with the investments held in our portfolios. Just as we saw towards the end of 2021, during times of ‘excess’ where there is an overwhelming sense of positivity and often ‘greed’, all boats rise with the tide. This is when we see even poor quality and speculative investments increasing in value. On the flip side, the opposite is true, during times of ‘negativity’ and ‘fear’, all investments feel this impact, even the high-quality ones, where fundamentals haven’t changed.
In the Australian share market, we have seen investors selling smaller companies, resulting in share prices dropping. This has been felt by the Flinders Emerging Companies Fund which is held across a number of the Financial Keys model portfolios. However, this Fund continues to hold good quality stocks with potential for long term positive performance.
To provide an insight into this Fund Manager, how they are viewing the current state of play and the types of companies they are investing into, we requested a video update from the Manager.
The Australian equity market (as measured by the S&P/ASX 200) started the year off much like the previous finished, although most of the steam had been taken out of the rally with January producing a solid +1.20% return. February was much more muted with the uncertainty of an imminent reporting season hanging over the market however with better-than-expected results, coupled with softer-than-expected domestic inflation data, March provided some highlights as Australian shares hit new record highs. The quarter ended on a high with March producing +3.27% closing the quarter off with an attractive +5.53%.
2023 made for another very interesting year in investment markets as macro / regime driven events resulted in extreme shifts in investor sentiment on an almost monthly basis. Investors chose to shoot first and ask questions later in what can best be described as a year of maximum noise.
The Australian equity market (as measured by the S&P/ASX 200) started the September quarter with a flurry but ended up in the red as the global “higher-for-longer” narrative (interest rates) coupled with the ever-increasing cost of living concerns caused consumer confidence to wane.