Our domestic equities Portfolio Managers discussed several themes that emerged during the recent reporting season. The Retail, Insurance and Bank sectors delivered a positive surprise, while Health, Staples and Utilities disappointed versus consensus.
Australia’s accelerating vaccination rate saw investors look through the current climate and towards companies with leverage to a reopening (think travel and leisure stocks) and away from those companies for whom COVID-19 had provided a tailwind. Dividends were materially larger than expected, suggesting CEOs are generally optimistic and are presiding over healthy balance sheets.
We covered a number of key stock positions that we continue to hold that see us well placed given the current economic and market outlook. The Q&A was recorded and we covered as many questions as we could.