James Gerrish: Low risk equity returns are back (and these stocks provide them)

Some fund managers don't freely disclose how they go about business, for fear of losing a competitive edge (or maybe letting on that they don't have any edge at all). 

Then there's the other school of thought - tell investors how you operate, what you're thinking, and forge ahead as a thought leader. Then, if you're worth your salt, investors pick up what you're putting down and entrust you to manage their capital. 

Today's guest on The Rules of Investing occupies the extreme latter end of that spectrum.

James Gerrish  is the 9th most followed contributor on Livewire. Subscribers might know him best as author of the daily match out report, but that’s certainly not the only hat he wears.

He’s also on the tools – running money at Market Matters across portfolios specialising in growth, income, international equities, emerging companies, and global macro.

We discuss:

• the benefit of holding short-term views when long-term investing;
• the market signals that matter most
• the sectors with the best risk adjusted return
• and the one thing investors should fear

Note: This episode was recorded on Wednesday December 12, 2023. 

Timestamps 1:20 - Managing short-term views with long-term investing 4:30 - Short-term noise 8:50 - Banking crisis and deposit flight 10:40 - The most important signals across sectors and asset classes 15:30 - Are bond yields too high? 19:40 - Investing is a game of inches, not yards 23:50 - How important is the index? 25:00 - Risk across today's sectors 28:00 - The best risk-adjusted return 33:00 - Know your risk, and invest accordingly 35:40 - Discounting macro is a cop out 42:00 - The thing that should frighten all investors 45:50 - Look for companies with warts 48:00 - The market's getting ahead of itself 49:00 - Biggest career win and loss 52:00 - A company for all seasons