Irish Commercial Property is an asset class I’ve highlighted over the past year as perhaps deserving of a place in investor portfolios. Building resilience into an investment portfolio has been a challenge in 2026. Bond markets have seen capital losses as yields have shifted up. German 10 year has moved from 2.8% to 3.1%. CommoditiesContinue reading “Should Investors Consider Irish Property?”
Category Archives: Asset Allocation
Where do Irish investors put their money?
Total financial assets of Irish households are just under €600 billion. (Here we’re talking about stocks, bonds and funds – not property) The bulk of this €600 billion is in pensions, insurance funds and deposits at 83%. The amount invested in retail investment funds is a much smaller number at just over €11 billion. SoContinue reading “Where do Irish investors put their money?”
Did Property work for Irish investors in 2025?
In what was a good year for financial markets overall, did investing in Irish Commercial Property work for investors in 2025? One thing I’ve noticed about fund returns in the year just gone is that, irrespective of the specific asset class, there has been a wide range of returns among funds within the same sector. ForContinue reading “Did Property work for Irish investors in 2025?”
Grinding out a Result
This year the average Irish Pension fund peaked in February, and is only now clawing its way back to that level. In the mean-time, it had slumped by about 15% from that peak until it bottomed in early April, recovering all the lost ground. So year to date the average pension fund is just now edgingContinue reading “Grinding out a Result”
Selecting a Fund Manager: Getting it right matters….not getting it wrong matters even more!
Choosing the right asset or region is clearly a significant part of any investment decision. But selecting the right manager to make all these decisions is arguably equally, if not more, important. This applies predominantly to the active space but there can also be nuances in indexed investment solutions. I looked at some MoneyMate statisticsContinue reading “Selecting a Fund Manager: Getting it right matters….not getting it wrong matters even more!”
Time to re-visit Property as an Asset Class?
Just over 6 months ago, I posted a piece on Irish Commercial Property wondering if there was a case to include, or add to it, in your investment portfolio. So what’s been happening? The commentary so far this year coming from property managers talks of a stabilizing or a re-set for the Irish Commercial PropertyContinue reading “Time to re-visit Property as an Asset Class?”
Investment Managers in this Crisis: What are they saying; how are they doing?
How are investment managers faring in this current market crisis and what are they saying to their customers? Scrolling through the comments and advice that investment managers and financial advisors are giving currently reveals a broadly consistent message. I’ve looked through the comments and advice from firms based here or selling into the Irish market.Continue reading “Investment Managers in this Crisis: What are they saying; how are they doing?”
Bonds: Boring or Ballistic? Time to think again?
For many investors, bonds are a substantial part of their allocation. They are seen as a stable asset class, offering some balance with other assets and reduced volatility – generally not meant to be the “exciting” part of the portfolio. Most Balanced Managed funds here in Ireland have an allocation to fixed income. I lookedContinue reading “Bonds: Boring or Ballistic? Time to think again?”
Time to add to Property in your Portfolio?
Is it time for Irish investors to look at commercial property again? BlackRock, the global investment giant, last week told its clients that the outlook for property is brightening, with falling interest rates and reduced yields in other assets. Does Ireland fit into this “brightening” picture? Portfolio allocations to the sector have been dragged downContinue reading “Time to add to Property in your Portfolio?”
Are Irish Investment Managers charging too much?
Fees charged for managing money have been coming down. This has been a long term trend which has picked up pace. A recent global survey by Morningstar shows that over the past 4 years, management fees for all active funds in their universe have shifted down from 0.68% to 0.6%. Most of this decline tookContinue reading “Are Irish Investment Managers charging too much?”
Back to School! What Irish Fund Managers are saying today
2024 has been a good year so far for investors. But now, as we put away the buckets and spades and head into the home straight for the year, how do Irish investment managers see market prospects? Well, all in all, they seem to be a reasonably positive bunch. Not too concerned about recessions, expectingContinue reading “Back to School! What Irish Fund Managers are saying today”
And the Winner is….
What’s driving the strong performance of Irish investment funds? What’s driving the winning performances amongst Irish fund managers today? And can it be sustained? Firstly, it’s been a good period to be invested in markets. Over the past year, Irish fund managers have on average returned around 20% in Global Equities and about 12 toContinue reading “And the Winner is….”
Does Debt Matter?
The amount of debt that governments owe gets called out on a regular basis by commentators and analysts as one the key economic risks that we face. The IMF has been to the fore talking about the fiscal and financial risks of a high debt, slow growth world. In their view, higher long term interestContinue reading “Does Debt Matter?”
Are Investors too complacent today?
Stock markets around the world have hit record highs this year. In fact, markets have enjoyed a good run since end October last year – the US S&P index is up about 25% in that period. Principal driver was probably a benign view on where interest rates may go in 2024, coupled with a resilientContinue reading “Are Investors too complacent today?”
Are Investment Funds getting too Big?
One trend that has been persistent, protracted and powerful in the Asset Management industry is consolidation. And it’s not just the mega deals. Mergers, acquisitions and restructurings have been an ever present feature, on both buy-side and sell-side, at all points on the size spectrum. Recent names in the headlines include Franklin Templeton, Liontrust, Crux,Continue reading “Are Investment Funds getting too Big?”
Do Investment Models Work?
Yes – until they don’t. What I’m talking about here are the models, processes, frameworks that some investment managers may use when they are allocating across the various asset classes such as stocks, bonds, property, cash, alternatives etc. The usual building blocks of such models may include factors such as valuation, economic growth, interest rates, currencies,Continue reading “Do Investment Models Work?”
Irish Fund Managers 2022 – What Worked; What Didn’t
It was a shocker! Red numbers across all significant stock markets, global bonds and most investment styles, made for very negative outcomes for most Irish investment funds in 2022.Fear of inflation followed by fear of recession, coinciding with huge geo-political risk (Russia/China) and Central Bank catch-up, made it a year of living dangerously for manyContinue reading “Irish Fund Managers 2022 – What Worked; What Didn’t”
Irish Pension Funds and Property: Where to next?
The ultimate “Safe Haven”? It’s how many see Property as an investment – it’s not true of course, but it does give us a sense of where it stands on the risk spectrum. Certainly in 2022, for Irish pension funds and investors generally, Irish commercial property has played this role in what has been anContinue reading “Irish Pension Funds and Property: Where to next?”
Should Investors just forget about Emerging Markets?
It is one of the key tenets in investment. If you take on more risk, you expect more reward. It underlies why we invest in start-up businesses, new technologies, illiquid assets and much, much more. And it explains why individuals and institutions have ploughed vast sums into Emerging Markets.Emerging Markets, now taken as a givenContinue reading “Should Investors just forget about Emerging Markets?”
The Global Food Crisis and Pension Funds
We are in a global food crisis. While food prices have eased somewhat from the highs of March April, they are still 43% higher than 2020 levels (as measured by the FAO index). Though the rise is widespread, grains have been to the fore in pushing higher. In lower income countries, where food makes upContinue reading “The Global Food Crisis and Pension Funds”
Tradewinds 