Market & Portfolio Update - August 2020
Global share markets rose nearly 5% in August as investors continue to digest news about ongoing vaccine developments and look for returns in a low interest rate environment.
Australian shares rose over 3% as the Covid-19 outbreak in Victoria eased. This resulted in another month of overall positive returns for funds, even as some uncertainty remains for the general economic backdrop.
For our Booster clients, the portion of members' global shares investments managed by California-based Fisher Investments added value by outperforming the general return on global share markets. This came largely from Fisher’s allocation to technology companies, such as Apple and sales software provider Salesforce. These both benefited from sales being supported by global customers looking to technology solutions to help them and their businesses through the pandemic.
The magic of the managed fund
Let’s talk about shares for a minute. No matter how you invest, there are really just two ways to make money from owning shares:
1. You receive a slice of the profits (called dividends), or
2. You sell your shares to someone else for more than you paid (that’s capital gain).
That’s it. Anything else is simply a different way of packaging those two outcomes.
What is Life Insurance?
Life insurance is one of those things that many people know they should probably have but they’re not quite sure what it does, how it works, or whether it’s actually relevant to them. This article breaks it down in clear, everyday terms to help you understand the basics before you decide if it’s something worth exploring further.