The US rose again overnight with the S&P 500 up 0.63% and the Nasdaq up 1.52% after the positive results from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META).
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has traded lower in the after hours market with the release of the tech giants quarterly earnings. While earnings broadly beat expectations the services division did not and AAPL saw sales in China also miss expectations.
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is also trading lower in the after market post its earnings report. Whilst it broadly met expectations of analysts for the quarter it was the forward looking guidance that has disappointed.
During the quarter Amazon announced it is releasing a service via Amazon Web Services (AWS) called GameLift Streams. This will allow video game developers to deliver games to any device with a browser. Think your tv, phone, computer etc. AWS accounts for 19% of Amazon’s total revenue and has been a real growth engine for the giant.
- S&P 500 = +0.63%
- Nasdaq = +1.52%
- Aussie dollar down 0.3% to 63.84US cents
- Iron down 1.2% to $95.20 US a tonne
Keeping an eye on Platinum
When I got my first job in funds management the office was in Macquarie Place. Beneath us was the Basement, an iconic music venue of its time. Quite a few floors above, were the offices of Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX:PTM).
Platinum was a big deal. It produced some of the best investors we’ve ever seen. These include John Hempton (you may remember him from the Netflix show Dirty Money), Jacob Mitchell and Stephen Arnold to name a few. They were led by arguably Australia’s greatest investment mind, Kerr Neilson.
Platinum was the name in international investing in Australia. At its peak funds under management reached almost $30B and it’s share price reached $8.70. Today it manages $11B – and that’s been shrinking – and the share price touched a low of $0.60.
Yesterday Platinum received a takeover – sorry I meant merger – from privately owned Melbourne-based fund manager, L1 Capital. The combined entity would have $18B of funds under management and see Platinum’s investment team get the shot in the arm it needs from the high performing and highly regarded L1 team.
Previous take-over attempts have failed due to not receiving Kerr Neilson’s blessing, however it seems L1 has that with Kerr Neilson selling a significant stake to them.
Right now, listed fund managers are an endangered species with ETF issuers eating them alive. It will be interesting to watch how this plays out and how the performance of L1 and Platinums funds go for their investors.
“…what are we even here for?”
Yesterday I had a really fun call with a prospective investor from Adelaide. We talked about portfolio construction, exchanged book and podcast recommendations, it was great. Our Rask community truly is filled with a lot of smart and motivated people.
But, right at the start of the conversation when I asked, “why now are we talking now” she answered, “well, I’ve been thinking, what are we even here for?” She went on to elaborate that she didn’t want to work forever, didn’t want to spend all this time working five days a week and wanted to be in a position to work less and find her passion more. What are we even here for?
Although the phrasing and delivery was unique the dream is something I have spoken to a lot of people. Most find this hard to articulate. It doesn’t feel like a goal because it isn’t crystal clear like buying a house or retiring early.
Most people I speak with don’t know what they want. It might be to work four or three days a week instead of five. Change jobs from something that they do for the money to something they care about but pays less. Keep working because they really enjoy it and use dividends from a portfolio for amazing holidays. Help the kids or all of the above.
One thing they do know is if they don’t start investing and building towards it they’ll never get there.
For this, I’ve coined the phrase the nest egg of optionality. I use it so often, I really should trademark it.
I invest for this same reason.
If you want to get in touch with me and talk about your nest egg of optionality, relive gigs at music venues that no longer exist or anything else please use the chat in the bottom right, jump across to Rask Invest or find me in the Community.
Enjoy your Friday and roll merrily into the weekend.
