Altair Asset Management returning funds to investors because of property bubble

'I am absolutely certain we are in a bubble in this property market'

"Australian asset manager Altair Asset Management has made the extraordinary decision to liquidate its Australian shares funds and return "hundreds of millions" of dollars back to its clients, citing an impending property market "calamity" and the "overvalued and dangerous time in this cycle"."

Pretty ominous to see a highly paid fund manager throw the towel in because of overvalued markets. Maybe others here can commemt on the risks they see in the property and share market in Australia?

 

A few did the same pre 2008 without amplifying the sprezzatura,and no one can say while looking at the chart above the selloff is from a lack of talent..The only question is now with funds back in the unit holders hands what do they invest in next...

 

Had a quick look at their managed funds performance and it hardly beat the index, then there's teh fees. Their website is "under renovation"

Altair Advantage A Managed Investment Fund | RateCity

Perhaps it was better for him to take the money and enjoy retirement?

 

Yes this time of year tax wise it would cause problems,and one would think that before they take all the money off the table that would have asked the question to the unit holders,but six months time it may be a different landscape just never know..

 

Fingers crossed he is right and in 6mths time there is huge losses in the markets (and housing).
I can't wait to see if I crumble under pressure.

 

Hi all

Early on in my investment journey I contributed to a few unlisted investment funds / unit trusts and did o'k over a number of years. One of the things that struck me was the complete inability to control your tax liability, specifically, the funds would make a distribution of capital gains that was assessable. I recall, in some instances I would buy some units in May and those units would be attributed with CGs a month later.

I always thought that this was an aspect where the LICs are much more reliable than unit trusts, might be wrong though.

I imagine that some of the unit holders may only be getting own funds back with an attached tax liability.

I would not be too pleased.

best to all

 

How Many Will Stay the Course During the Next Bear Market?

 

Will be labeled a genius if the crash comes soon.

Been right once isn't convincing IMO

 

As good as flipping a coin.

“People have always had this craving to have someone tell them the future. Long ago, kings would hire people to read sheep guts. There’s always been a market for people who pretend to know the future. Listening to today’s forecasters is just as crazy as when he king hired the guy to look at the sheep guts.” – Charlie Munger

Quite a funny story there ...
Forecasting or Coin Flipping?

 

I wish you luck with that.

 

" Have a plan. Stick to it. Be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that a bear market presents."

Strongly agree.

Drawing off some of the comments from other threads - some of the relevant issues I see are;

- viewing this journey as a sprint and perhaps getting too excited too early in the process
- seeing past trends and projecting our future expected behaviour to future trends
- during the smoke of battle panicking, losing sight of bigger picture, abandoning plan, etc

To paraphrase that renowned investor, Mike Tyson - " Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face".

I did really o'k out of the GFC by investing in shares but I can recall that it was a very intense period, the world was falling apart and investing as we thought we knew it was changing really fast. I know that I got lucky when I borrowed and picked up shares fairly cheaply. I really should have bought more (in hindsight) but I second guessed my plan and was getting punched in the face and it wasn't nice - what if things dropped another 25%?

Easy to see it now as a ' Monday morning quarter-back"

When I stopped getting punched in the face I probably jumped out of the ring too quick, again in hindsight.

Many here have had lots of $$$ invested during these kind of chaotic times and know what they expect to do from past behaviour, others think they know what they will do - time may tell

I was in the ring - all in - during the GFC and, again, to quote a famous boxer (Rocky) - " Don't want no re-match"

My current share investing is pretty much done through Super (low cost funds) and my investments pretty much 50% Australian Shares / 50% International Shares.

1. I won't be selling anything regardless of the current fear in some commentating circles
2. Will continue to invest fortnightly through own funds + employer 9.5%
3. If the bell rings for another style GFC event - will crank up own contributions and prepared
to do it over an extended period.
4 Will not look for direct share bargains with my own or borrowed funds this time.

Having chose #4 the last time - no rematch

If the event never comes - I am DCA into diversified growth assets
If the event occurs - will be DCA more funds into diversified assets

No problem either way.

That is my plan - let's see if I stick to it when the first punch lands - if it is ever thrown (of course it will come - that is the nature of the markets)

Investing either shows / develops our character.

Going back to the very sage advice;

" Have a plan. Stick to it. Be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that a bear market presents."

Best to all

 

Sorry - one more quote - from the best Monday morning quarter-back in the business

"When you step into the boxing ring you know you have to be standing at the end of 15 rounds. When you are in the ring against the GFC you know you have to be standing at the end but you don't know at the time whether it is for 1,10, 20, 30...........rounds - don't go out too hard too early - you gotta be standing at the end - otherwise sit in the bleachers" - Bunlee 2017

Best to all

 

We switched out of shares 8-10 weeks before the GFC hit and drip fed back in as the market stabilised and subsequently improved, and emerged virtually unscathed. I calculated our losses were less than 2%. We were able to do this easily within our Government super fund. As we were close to retiring, capital preservation was important to us.

We held on to our small quantity of direct shares and rode the market down and back up again.
Marg

 

No-one can pick the market. He may look like a genius if it crashes in the near future. In most likelihood, he will look like a fool. Should have just done his job and stuck with value blue chips or other lower risk opportunities.

 

Can't remember exact dates, we are away so can't look it up.

Reason? No crystal ball involved. Hubby got nervous, so we switched into bonds and fixed interest which were giving ok returns. No inkling of what was to come, just wanted to sit things out for a while as the financial markets seemed a bit too unstable for his peace of mind. As I said, given our ages and stage of life, capital preservation was our primary aim.

We did the same thing when the "fiscal cliff" was looming in the USA. We were going overseas and did not want to be worrying about market fluctuations. Switched back when it was all over, lost a bit under 1% but worth it for peace of mind.

So I can't claim any credit.
Marg

 

Very interested in the trigger for you to sell out at the right time. Was it because you were close to retirement?