Market Commentary - December

Glenmore Asset Management

January 2023

Funds operated by this manager:

Glenmore Australian Equities Fund

Tips on Managing your own Super

Marcus Today

January 2023

I had a question about Portfolio Management from a Member. I sent him this. It might interest you.

Two processes run side-by-side:

• Stock picking and timing.
• Managing market risk.

STOCK PICKING AND TIMING

Stock picking and timing involves a few basic tenets that you might adopt. They include (and apologies for the simplicity):

• Have a quality overlay. Far better you play in reliable stocks. It reduces risk. I am so over holding smaller companies and risking 20% drops on announcements. Some stocks are very sexy, but when you are running other people's (joint Super?) money, you have to be sensible. That involves knowing the numbers and having a quality or (at the minimum) a market cap threshold you won't go below. That means trying to find (say) the most reliable growth stocks, and a lot of those, in order to reduce risk, end up being larger companies. Going down the market cap scale is fine as long as you are aware of the risk and keep that end of the portfolio in check. The smaller the company, the more research is required. Yes, you can narrow the risk, but it takes more effort. In other words, you wouldn't buy a lot of small stocks when looking after long-term important money, although one or two turbocharged popular stocks, on high PEs and stretched valuations, being priced on future, not current earnings, is very common as a side bet you can lose, just keep the size of the holdings smaller.
• Build a watchlist of stocks you like. You don't have to own every stock, so just put a good list of stocks together. If you don't hold the best-performing stock in the last year, it doesn't matter. Just as long as the stocks on your list suit you. Another way to do it is to list stocks you would avoid and why. Too small, unethical, unreliable earnings, yield too low. You choose. Build a list of stocks that suit you. Growth, income, quality, stocks in an industry you know, like, have a future, whatever. Keep it short. Don't worry about price, it's the inherent nature of the company/stocks that you are interested in at this point. You look at price, timing, charts, later.
• There are too many ideas. Ideas are never a problem. In order to filter them pop a Post-it note on your screen every time half decent stock idea comes up. If it's any good, you will now be aware of it and may end up researching it, may end up putting it on the watch list and may end up buying it eventually. The ideas process has to start somewhere. In other words, you don't need four months of Warren Buffettesque analysis to validate every idea. All you need do is note it and start thinking about it (the antennae are up) and see what comes of it.
• Don't buy stocks just because they make it onto the watch list, only buy them because they are also going up. This is the timing part of the equation, and it is mostly done on trends (charts). There is nothing I like more than finding a quality stock on the watchlist bottoming on the charts. When the market tips over, you should celebrate, not commiserate, because that's when those opportunities flourish, the opportunity to buy good stocks at good prices. We use a lot of charting software that quickly scans lists of stocks and highlights trends and turning points.
• Start small and build - You (the nervous) might emulate many fund managers by pyramiding in and pyramiding out. That involves buying a small holding to start with (especially in smaller companies) and adding to it if the stock goes up, cutting it if the stock goes down. It's a way to limit your risk. Go you good thing. Don't add exposure to a bad thing. Cut exposures when it's going wrong. Some people have trouble with big decisions, especially selling. So make a lot of small decisions. It's easier for the indecisive (most people).
• Watch out for liquidity issues - Some stocks hardly trade. Look at the spread. If there is a big spread and it has low volumes on a daily basis, then it can move fast and a lot. You might not want that. Just be aware of liquidity. If the chart has a lot of straight lines on it, beware.
• Sell stocks that go down. I have been running the newsletter portfolios for years. When you transparently manage a portfolio, you begin to understand that you cannot afford to have big negative performance numbers next to stocks or people don't subscribe. So I learned for commercial reasons to cut stocks that went down. You, too, should be drawn to the poor performers as a risk before you notice the glory of the good performers. Pull the weeds easily. If you can do that, you will find that you end up with a lot of stocks that are going up. After that the job is looking after stocks that go up (nurture the flowers). Stupidly simple, but this actually works. Possibly the most damaging weakness of amateur portfolio management is this rather pathetic inability to sell. I have no emotional attachment to stocks. They are share prices, not love affairs. If they don't behave, get rid of them - you don't need to be waking up to failure every morning. Clear the decks easily. If you can learn to do that, you are halfway there because if picking good stocks is half the game, the other half is not holding the wrong stocks. As a broker, every new client would come to us with a tale of tiny holdings with huge losses against them. Learn to sell.

MANAGING MARKET RISK

As you probably know by now, I believe you can time the market and everyone who says you can't is an inexperienced amateur that has heard too many Buffett quotes or is a financial professional that has an interest in you doing nothing (because they don't have to make decisions but still get your fee).

You can manage market risk by raising and lowering your cash weighting. One of the great advantages of managing your own money as an individual without oversight is that you can go to 100% cash. Something the big funds could never do. This allows you to protect capital in a bear market, whereas most of the major funds have no choice, they have a mandate which forces them to hold the market through thick and thin. They will play with a small cash weighting (5-15%?), but it is immaterial come a big market sell-off. They will never get out of the market in a bear market. You can.

How much cash you hold is a daily debate, and there are no rules. I simply wake up every morning and make a decision. I rarely get scared by the market but will rapidly run up cash levels if I think its going wrong. And reverse it again when the squall is over.

When it comes to running up the cash, I may sell a few stocks outright (the ones that are not performing) but will essentially take the top off every stock rather than stock pick. The main issue is to run up the cash and not get cute about which stocks to do it with.

When it comes to this decision - read the Strategy section - it's what it's all about!

Author: Marcus Padley, Founder of Marcus Today

Funds operated by this manager:

Marcus Today Equity Income SMA, Marcus Today Growth SMA

New Funds on FundMonitors.com

Below are some of the funds we've recently added to our database. Follow the links to view each fund's profile, where you'll have access to their offer documents, monthly reports, historical returns, performance analytics, rankings, research, platform availability, and news & insights. 

View Profile

Rixon Income Fund

Want to see more funds?

Subscribe for full access to these funds and over 700 others

Cycle is not a dirty word

Airlie Funds Management

January 2023

January 2023

In a perfect world, every stock we own would be net cash, generate high returns, be run by a world-class management team, and cheap. In practice, the presence of the first three criteria usually means that the investment falls over at the last criterion. Just like we don't tend to stumble across $500k houses in Point Piper with Sydney Harbour views, the stock market is rational: it usually bids the best businesses up to the highest price. This means we usually have to compromise on something. The one thing we never compromise on is the balance sheet - a business must have the appropriate financial structure for its business model or else we equity investors may find out exactly where we rank in the capital stack! Assuming the balance sheet is appropriate, we rely on our judgement as investors to juggle the trade-offs between business quality, management quality and valuation. One hunting ground where we tend to find businesses with attractive valuations is when everyone is very worried about "the cycle". For example, with a consensus view that a recession looks likely in the US, Europe and potentially Australia, we are seeing opportunities in businesses that are leveraged to the building cycle.

The first thing to figure out when sifting through these ideas is whether the business sells a commodity. In investing it pays to have an open mind: cyclical businesses that sell commodity products can be great investments; one need look no further than BHP to find such an example. However, we have a few requirements. Firstly, we want to see a pristine, (preferably net cash) balance sheet. Returns are outside the company's control - typically dictated by the level of demand for a commodity and hence the price. Financial leverage combined with operating leverage can mean lights out.

Second, we look for evidence of good industry structure. This means as few players as possible. Very few things are "pure" commodities. Often there are hidden barriers to entry - start-up costs, distribution networks or captured supply chains - that keep industries rational and cosy. This seems particularly prevalent in Australia. The tyranny of distance, both from global supply chains and having a small population spread across a large country, means a fixed profit pool that often doesn't support a third or fourth entrant. Two or three rational market players can see everyone making OK returns on their capital.

Finally, we want a compelling valuation. If there's no intangible franchise value in a business, if it just makes bog-average products, you don't want to pay a high price for it. Luckily, the tendency for investors to tie themselves in knots trying to forecast where we are in a cycle tends to throw off frequent opportunities to buy cyclical businesses at good prices. Unluckily, those opportunities usually only come around when the cycle looks particularly on the nose. As such, we find you have to be brave and also be prepared to be early (potentially very early!), and willing to add to a position if it continues to fall as the cycle deteriorates. The risk in investing in cyclical commodity businesses is that, as Howard Marks says, to be too far ahead of your time is indistinguishable from being wrong. It is for this reason that we rarely make these initial investments our largest positions, preferring a smaller position size that we can add to should the leading indicators deteriorate further.

One business we feel ticks these boxes is CSR , a recent addition to the portfolio. The company manufactures and distributes plasterboard, aerated concrete, bricks, fibre cement, insulation and other products under a range of different brands. CSR also has a 25% effective interest in the Tomago aluminium smelter in Newcastle.

We are under no illusions as to the underlying quality of this business. With perhaps the exception of aerated concrete, where CSR has exclusive rights to the Hebel brand, the bulk of what CSR makes, and sells are commodity products. Returns will be cyclical, dominated by the level of residential building activity in Australia. Our thesis in owning CSR is that (a) the value of the surplus property underpins the bulk of the valuation, such that we aren't paying a very high residual price for the building products business, and (b) this building products business is probably a shade higher quality than it has been historically; mid-cycle margins and returns for CSR's building products should be higher this decade than the prior decade due to improving industry structure.

Throwing in a rock-solid balance sheet ($142m net cash) makes the investment proposition stack up for us, albeit this is not without risks. Our valuation is based on our assessment of mid-cycle EBIT; however, we will be wrong on this assessment if industry rationality breaks down as demand falls (that is, if we see evidence of price-cutting to chase market share). 

Building products business: average quality but industry structure has improved

From an earnings perspective, the three most important businesses in CSR's Building Products portfolio are plasterboard (Gyprock), Bricks and Hebel (aerated concrete), making up a combined c75% of EBIT.

CSR has a dominant market share position in each of the plasterboard, brick and aerated concrete markets as a function of recent industry consolidation (Gyprock, PGH Bricks) and product exclusivity (Hebel).

As per the below chart, EBIT margins are highly cyclical: in a great year (like FY23F) CSR is on track to make a 14% EBIT margin; in a bad year (2013) it made only 8% EBIT margins. We believe a return to these lows is unlikely for reasons we step through below. As such, we forecast trough EBIT margins of 10% rather than a historic 8%, and mid-cycle EBIT margins of 12% rather than a historic 10%.

Source: Company data, Airlie research.

Plasterboard is the most important business, accounting for over 50% of the building products' EBIT. East-coast plasterboard is a three-player market, with CSR and Knauf enjoying c35-40% market share each, and ETEX 20%-30%. Boral used to be the main player against which CSR competed; however, Knauf recently effectively bought Boral out of its local assets in 2021. Boral historically had a reputation as the competitor you didn't want in any market, as it leant heavily on price to chase market share during downturns. This weighs on returns for all players. We view the exit of Boral from plasterboard as a net positive for industry rationality. While plasterboard is undoubtedly a cyclical business, our discussion with industry participants suggests plasterboard is at the lower end of cyclicality - the plasterboard cost base is fairly variable as you can pull shifts off when demand declines, protecting EBIT margins. We believe EBIT margins vary by only a few percentage points through the cycle.

The main driver of our assumption that CSR is unlikely to retest its prior EBIT margin lows is the improved industry structure in bricks. The Australian bricks market has gone from a three-player market to two after CSR bought Boral out of their joint venture in late 2016. A bricks business has a huge fixed-cost base; a brick kiln runs 24/7, so it's hard to pull costs out in a downturn. Conversations with industry participants suggested CSR's bricks business was breakeven at best during the prior housing downturn of 2010-2013. Management is also proactively managing the asset base to recycle unrequired brick sites into the property portfolio for alternative uses. For example, CSR were able to close a brick manufacturing site at Darra in Queensland and push the capacity through an upgrade at their NSW site in Oxley, freeing up the Darra land to be redeveloped and sold. We estimate Darra could generate over $100m in EBIT for the business over several years via the sale of subdivided land. This network optimisation reduces the risk that high-fixed-cost brick plants will swing to EBIT or cash loss-making at the bottom of the cycle.

These improvements in industry structure lead us to an estimate of mid-cycle EBIT for building products of c$200m. (Note the building products business is on track for >$250m EBIT this year.) Deducting the full corporate costs of c$25m from this division gives mid-cycle group EBIT of $175m ex-aluminium.

Property underpins 65% of market capitalisation

CSR's property division looks to maximise financial returns of surplus former manufacturing sites and industrial land. The bulk of the value of this division was a 'gift from the gods': in what was surely one of the most sizeable value transfers in recent Australian corporate history, CSR was able to acquire Boral's 40% interest in its brick JV for $126m in 2016. Extraordinarily, this included 12 manufacturing operations and mothballed sites, including the aforementioned Darra site, as well as 140ha of developable land at Badgerys Creek in Western Sydney. This is valuable land, located on the southern boundary of the future Western Sydney Airport. CSR recently sold a small parcel of this land at $4.5m/ha, implying the remaining site could be worth >$600m. Cheers, Boral! This episode is another reminder of why we put a huge emphasis on the quality of a management team. It's not always around the value creation they can achieve, but also avoiding the significant value destruction that can occur if a business is poorly run.

CSR have had their total "as is" property book independently valued at $1.5bn ($1.1bn for 450ha of Western Sydney property, and $400m for additional freehold properties), which compares to a market capitalisation of $2.3bn. While this value will be realised over the long term via redevelopment and sale of surplus land, this implies a residual value for the business of c$800m, which is cheap when set against our estimate of mid-cycle EBIT of $175m (4.5x EBIT). We note peer Fletcher Building currently trades on just under 8x arguably peak-cycle EBIT. This also ignores any earnings from aluminium.

To us, CSR is not a particularly high-quality business, and the cycle is clearly unsupportive from here. However, we believe there has been an improvement in the quality of the business as a result of favourable industry consolidation, and see compelling value in the combination of OK assets, solid property underpinning, and a net cash balance sheet that provides optionality through a downturn.

Author: Emma Fisher, Portfolio Manager

Funds operated by this manager:

Airlie Australian Share Fund

Important Information: Units in the fund(s) referred to herein are issued by Magellan Asset Management Limited (ABN 31 120 593 946, AFS Licence No. 304 301) trading as Airlie Funds Management ('Airlie') and has been prepared for general information purposes only and must not be construed as investment advice or as an investment recommendation. This material does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. This material does not constitute an offer or inducement to engage in an investment activity nor does it form part of any offer documentation, offer or invitation to purchase, sell or subscribe for interests in any type of investment product or service. You should obtain and consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement ('PDS') and Target Market Determination ('TMD') and consider obtaining professional investment advice tailored to your specific circumstances before making a decision to acquire, or continue to hold, the relevant financial product. A copy of the relevant PDS and TMD relating to an Airlie financial product or service may be obtained by calling +61 2 9235 4760 or by visiting www.airliefundsmanagement.com.au.

Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results and no person guarantees the future performance of any financial product or service, the amount or timing of any return from it, that asset allocations will be met, that it will be able to implement its investment strategy or that its investment objectives will be achieved. This material may contain 'forward-looking statements'. Actual events or results or the actual performance of an Airlie financial product or service may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements.

This material may include data, research and other information from third party sources. Airlie makes no guarantee that such information is accurate, complete or timely and does not provide any warranties regarding results obtained from its use. This information is subject to change at any time and no person has any responsibility to update any of the information provided in this material. Statements contained in this material that are not historical facts are based on current expectations, estimates, projections, opinions and beliefs of Airlie. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and undue reliance should not be placed thereon.

Any third party trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners and Airlie claims no ownership in, nor any affiliation with, such trademarks. Any third party trademarks that appear in this material are used for information purposes and only to identify the company names or brands of their respective owners. No affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement should be inferred from the use of these trademarks.. This material and the information contained within it may not be reproduced, or disclosed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Airlie.

2023 Global macro outlook: Ten predictions

Nikko Asset Management

December 2022

Funds operated by this manager:

Nikko AM ARK Global Disruptive Innovation Fund, Nikko AM Global Share Fund, Nikko AM New Asia Fund, 

Did Amazon cancel Christmas?

Alphinity Investment Management

December 2022

Funds operated by this manager:

Alphinity Australian Share Fund, Alphinity Concentrated Australian Share Fund, Alphinity Global Equity Fund, Alphinity Sustainable Share Fund

Disclaimer
The information on this website is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances, financial needs or objectives. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of it and the relevant product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. In particular, you should seek independent financial advice and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement or other offer document and the relevant Target Market Determination (available on the Apply Now page on this website) before making a decision whether to buy or hold a financial product.

Equities 2023 - What's the bigger risk?

Insync Fund Managers

January 2023

Insync Funds Management CEO, Monik Kotecha, says there's no denying that 2022 was a difficult year for equities - but as one US commentator recently pointed out, years in which the S&P was down more than 18%, as it was in 2022, have been followed by years of 20% plus returns, every single time for the past 90 years. This, plus a few other key factors identified by Insync suggest that standing on the sidelines may pose a bigger risk than investing.

Equities 2023 - What's the bigger risk?

As we enter 2023, Insync Funds Management CEO, Monik Kotecha says standing on the sidelines may pose a bigger risk than investing.

Everybody, and their mother, brother, sister, cousin, and uncle, is negative on the first half of 2023.

Wealth destruction was the dominant theme of 2022. The global equity market shrank US$15 trillion in market capitalization, while global bond markets saw US$30 trillion in value wiped out. Virtually every asset class declined. Oil held up better, rising strongly in the first half but correcting as global growth expectations faltered, ending the year flat.

The US dollar was the big winner, which rose 9% year-to-date. Cash, which was considered 'trash', gained 1.8%. High inflation, slowing growth and monetary tightening largely characterized the global economy throughout 2022. Rising inflation and slowing growth created stagflation concerns.

But we think the market may surprise on the upside in 2023.

The impact of 2022

There's no denying that 2022 was a difficult year for equities - but as US senior investment analyst, Luke Lango, from InvestorPlace recently pointed out, years in which the S&P was down more than 18%, as it was in 2022, have been followed by years of 20% plus returns, every single time for the past 90 years.

The sentiment at year-end was very negative, which is a good contrarian indicator. Typically, the average forecast from Wall Street's top strategists predicts the S&P 500 climbing by about 10%, which is in line with historical averages. This time around, the pros are unusually cautious, with most expecting the S&P to end 2023 lower.

A Bank of America fund manager survey shows fund managers relative positioning of stocks versus bonds is the lowest level since 2009. Fund managers also hold the highest level of cash (5.9%) since the bursting of the technology bubble in 2000/01.

The consensus view is that earnings have further to fall in 2023 and this remains a top investor concern. The market (buyside) tends to look out 6-12 months ahead of sell side analysts, and anticipates any earnings decline in advance of it actually happening.

Earnings have historically bottomed after stocks bottomed. Since 1950, the trough in earnings growth lagged the bottom in the S&P 500 by about 6-7 months. Stock prices tend to inflect upwards before we see improvements in earnings, GDP, and employment. October 2022 may well have marked the lows in stock prices which has already discounted the fall in earnings ahead of sell side analysts.

Looking ahead

As we enter 2023, we think standing on the sidelines may pose a bigger risk than investing. Here's why.

The US midterm elections

The US midterm elections were held in November 2022. Historically, the S&P500 has outperformed the market in the 12-month period after a US midterm election with an average return of 16.3%, and not delivered a negative return during this period over the past 60 years.

Inflation may still prove to be transitory

Many argue that inflation will be much stickier than markets currently discount, and that it will take multiple years to restore price stability (2% inflation). However, we continue to believe that the outbreak of inflation is squarely the result of the pandemic shock. As the pandemic-related economic dislocation renormalizes and the Federal Reserve continues to tighten monetary policy, inflation may well eventually fall back to pre-pandemic norms.

An area of additional concern, as a result of the pandemic, has been the reduction in the labour market participation rate. This has the potential to drive sustained increase in wages inflation and lower levels of productivity.

We are today living in the golden age of technology and innovation which we continue to consider to be deflationary for two primary reasons:

1. Technology reduces the demand for labour, which puts downward pressure on wages and employment levels, which in turn reduces demand for goods and services because workers have less money to spend

2. Technological innovation also leads to automation, tools that make workers more efficient, and the elimination of some job roles

So where are the opportunities?

We have found that the long-term cash flows and valuation of companies exposed to megatrends do not change as a result of an increase in interest rates, or a slowdown in the global economy. Megatrends are unstoppable long-term growth trends with profitable industry structures.

Here's just one example.

The 60+ age cohort is set to more than double to 2.1 billion by 2050. This is what we call a demographics megatrend. The fastest ageing group within this cohort is those aged 70-75 and this is where we have identified prime investing opportunities.

As the population ages, so does the incidence of chronic disease. Older people also often suffer from multiple chronic conditions at the same time. The second leading cause of death within those aged 70-75, after heart disease, is cancer.

The demand for companies providing cancer drugs is not reduced by changes in interest rates, inflation, or recession. These factors also do not change the trajectory of ageing populations, nor the increasing demand for solutions for chronic diseases.

Current volatile market conditions provide opportunities to invest in highly profitable businesses benefitting from megatrends at lower prices.

Funds operated by this manager:

Insync Global Capital Aware Fund, Insync Global Quality Equity Fund

Disclaimer
Equity Trustees Limited ("EQT") (ABN 46 004 031 298), AFSL 240975, is the Responsible Entity for the Insync Global Quality Fund and the Insync Global Capital Aware Fund. EQT is a subsidiary of EQT Holdings Limited (ABN 22 607 797 615), a publicly listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: EQT). This information has been prepared by Insync Funds Management Pty Ltd (ABN 29 125 092 677, AFSL 322891) ("Insync"), to provide you with general information only. In preparing this information, we did not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. It is not intended to take the place of professional advice and you should not take action on specific issues in reliance on this information. Neither Insync, EQT nor any of its related parties, their employees or directors, provide and warranty of accuracy or reliability in relation to such information or accepts any liability to any person who relies on it. Past performance should not be taken as an indicator of future performance. You should obtain a copy of the Product Disclosure Statement before making a decision about whether to invest in this product.

The net-zero journey: creating a just transition for workers

abrdn

December 2022

Funds operated by this manager:

Aberdeen Standard Actively Hedged International Equities Fund, Aberdeen Standard Asian Opportunities Fund, Aberdeen Standard Australian Small Companies Fund, Aberdeen Standard Emerging Opportunities Fund, Aberdeen Standard Ex-20 Australian Equities Fund (Class A), Aberdeen Standard Focused Sustainable Australian Equity Fund, Aberdeen Standard Fully Hedged International Equities Fund, Aberdeen Standard Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund, Aberdeen Standard Global Corporate Bond Fund, Aberdeen Standard International Equity Fund , Aberdeen Standard Life Absolute Return Global Bond Strategies Fund, Aberdeen Standard Multi Asset Real Return Fund, Aberdeen Standard Multi-Asset Income Fund

1. The net-zero transition: Its cost and benefits | Sustainability | McKinsey & Company
2. Flagship Report: World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2018 (ilo.org)
3. The importance of focusing on jobs and fairness in clean energy transitions - Analysis - IEA
4. World Employment and Social Outlook 2018 - Greening with jobs (ilo.org)