Selected Reads

Smartkarma

Equity Bottom-Up

This episode is sponsored by Masterworks Jason Halliwell is the head of GMO’s Systematic Global Macro team and a partner of the firm. GMO is a leading value-oriented asset manager with $60bn under management. Jason joined GMO in September 1999 from Westpac Investment Management where he spent three years in research and development of quantitative tactical asset allocation methods. In the podcast, we talk about equity views, why systematic works in macro, how to think about value investing, and…

BondEvalue

Credit

<img class="CToWUd a6T aligncenter" tabindex="0" src="https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/MgNh9XSpkxtm_X4itsJ8rSXhBcFA10nGxUFbjU4AatwBRYVUT2he6N7Tr2bikv6cwh7WnG3mlbWlU789eVYo67YQzObSG2T854MFSUT5vQKXXADvYJnoEG23cewK_dqJsBFobaGRq-IAtgJ9ZYdi9RXqDIiu1VLOu_5yAukg9Urndmi44bDtXwDeh6I5dAkU26-ynagp0m-XMof-AYamKjIqAOBogrDtrjMWqSRJ1IKinyYLO5sO_CxI_h79NB7Rh7sD37s=s0-d-e1-ft#https://blogs.bondevalue.com/hs-fs/hubfs/US%20Benchmark%20%26%20Global%20Indices%209%20Nov.png?width=1400&amp;upscale=true&amp;name=US%20Benchmark%20%26%20Global%20Indices%209%20Nov.png" alt="US Benchmark &amp; Global Indices 9 Nov" width="681" height="368" align="center">
US equities ended the week flat on Friday with the S&amp;P and NASDAQ almost unchanged. European equity indices were slightly lower, down ~0.5%. Treasury yields jumped with the 10Y up ~6bp to 0.83% as US jobs data signaled some positivity – unemployment rate down to 6.9% and NFP at 638k for the month of October vs. an estimate of 600k. Joe Biden emerged as the winner of the US presidential election although Trump continues to challenge the election result. US investment grade CDS and HY CDS spreads…

Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc.

Wide-moat Westpac Banking Corporation’s first-quarter fiscal 2019 trading update confirmed the bank is making good progress despite increasingly challenging operating conditions. The unaudited cash profit of AUD 2.04 billion was up a healthy 7% on the average of the previous two quarters of AUD 1.91 billion. Excluding second-half remediation costs of AUD 281 million, the first-quarter cash NPAT was broadly stable on the average of the two previous quarters. The unaudited statutory NPAT for the…

Westpac Banking Corporation’s fiscal 2018 cash profit of AUD 8.1 billion was unchanged on fiscal 2017, in line with expectations and consensus, and importantly, it was clean and straightforward. There was no major restructuring, discontinued operations or plans to sell wealth businesses. The steady profit reflected modestly higher year-on-year net interest margins, multidecade low bad debts, good customer deposit growth, and modest loan growth. Offsetting these positives was a steep increase in…

Lower net interest margins, or NIMs, surprised in wide-moat Westpac Banking Corporation's third-quarter fiscal 2018 update covering capital, funding, and asset quality. Despite weaker margins, the update was in line with our expectations, underpinning our unchanged AUD 35 fair value estimate. Westpac Bank is our preferred major Australian bank, trading 20% below valuation and in a good position to deliver solid profit and dividend growth on the back of strong market positions and a resilient…

Australia

Westpac Banking Corporation offers general and savings banking services.  The Company provides investment portfolio management and advice, insurance services,  consumer finance, and money market services among other services.  Westpac Banking Corp. serves individuals, businesses, and corporations worldwide.