I watched Conclave the other night and I can only presume the real conclave was just as dramatic. What they left out of the movie was the Papal rally in the US. Overnight the cardinals came to an agreement on a new Pope and the UK and US came to a trade agreement sending markets up modestly. All eyes remain US/China negotiations.
- S&P 500 = +0.60%
- Nasdaq = +1.00%
- Aussie dollar down 0.4% to 64.00US cents
- Iron down 1.6% to $96.80 US a tonne
Domestically we have a few big names reporting today. REA Group Limited (ASX: REA), QBE Insurance Group Limited (ASX: QBE) and the silver donut Macquarie Group Limited (ASX: MQG).
ETFs we’re watching
Global X launches concentrated China tech ETF
About six months ago I interviewed Global X’s Billy Leung for the Australian Investors Podcast. During that episode he highlighted three key criteria he looks for in a theme for him to get excited about investing:
- Demographic shifts indicating long-term demand
- Technology advancements enabling the theme
- Political and regulatory tailwinds supporting the theme
Afterwards we went for lunch and we asked him if he could create any ETF right then what would it be, he said China tech. Fast forward six months and they welcomed the Global X China Tech ETF (ASX: DRGN) – cool ticker btw. It’s a concentrated ETF holding just 20 of the leading tech companies in China.
In a couple of weeks Billy will be joining me for one of our investor/community member exclusive live events. I am certain he’ll be keen to talk about DRGN.
Tensions in India and Pakistan rise
I’ve previously written about the launch of a new Indian ETF from VanEck. There are now five Indian focused ETFs:
- Global X India Nifty 50 ETF (ASX: NDIA)
- Betashares India Quality ETF (ASX: IIND)
- Fidelity India Active ETF (ASX: FIIN)
- India Avenue Active ETF (CBOE: IAEF)
- VanEck India Growth Leaders ETF (ASX: GRIN)
With tensions escalating this week between India and Pakistan I’ll be watching to see how the Indian ETFs fair and will have a more in-depth report on them later next week.
The truly focused few
This week I listened to this fantastic podcast from Invest Like the Best. The guest is David Senra who hosts the Founders Podcast. David is unapologetic when it comes to how he wants to spend his time and who he wants to spend it with.
He greatly admires truly focused people who dedicate their life to something. Those who cannot not do their chosen path rather those who build something to sell it. The most recent example of this is Warren Buffett “retiring” at the age of 94.
Senra has this fantastic quote in the episode, “you don’t work your entire life not to do what you love to do”.
It got me thinking, who are the our local examples of this? I quizzed some friends on this one too. The first name we all said was Rob Millner from Washington H Sol Pattinson Company Ltd (ASX: SOL). Ian Macoun founder of Pinnacle Investment Management Group Limited (ASX: PNI) and Anthony Scali from Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK) were also mentioned.
There are a few other companies that come to mind who perfect the simple and continuously repeat it. I’ll look to explore these further in the future and do my best to get them on the podcast.
As always, enjoy your weekend especially Mothers Day. Usually it’s a lunch with the family but my partner is ditching me and the toddler for a long-lunch with the other mums! If you want to get in touch with me please use the chat in the bottom right, jump across to Rask Invest or find me in the Community. I’ll be sparking up a chat about the focused few over in the Community. Come and say hello.
