ASX Investor Day Sydney 2019

Approximately 800 attendees had the opportunity to listen and learn from some of the best people in the investing world at the ASX investor day, which took place at the Sydney Hilton on Saturday 29 June. This was the last event in a series of ASX investor Days held around Australia, and it finished off the 18/19 Australian financial year.

The Sydney ASX event started with an update on markets and the major global events that are shaping the future, as presented by Don Hamson (Managing Director, Plato Investment Management). Overall the advice was to remain cautious of global headwinds, as uncertainty grows in a market that is still trending upwards.

Regarding the performance of Australian investments since the federal election, markets have responded to the reduction in uncertainty with an increase in confidence. This has been further bolstered by the June RBA rate cuts as investors leverage cash rates of only 1.5%. Closing this session, Hamson cautioned investors to stay on the lookout for dividend traps and the impact of ex-dividend dates on stock prices.

ASX stock picks panel discussion

The panel comprised of experts from investment management firms Fidelity International, Firetrail and Platinum, and was moderated by Gemma Dale (Director, SMSF and Investor Behaviour, nabtrade), with each member of the panel pitching one stock to the audience:

Li Ning (2331.HKG) : Anthony Doyle (Fidelity International)

For Li Ning, the focus was on the favoritism of Chinese markets towards Chinese companies and how the ongoing trade war might increase the preference for Chinese products. Interestingly, a quick check in Sharesight indicates that Li Ning has gone up 30% since it was pitched at the first ASX investor day event (28th May 2019).

Downer (DOW.ASX) : Kyle Macintyre (Firetrail)

Downer, an infrastructure and services company was praised for its fundamentals and sound business model.

Using the share checker feature in Sharesight, I could see that Downer has outperformed the index for the past year and returned a solid 8.9%, including a dividend of 5%.

BMW (BMW.FRA) : Julian McCormack (Platinum)

The heritage of BMW, with its focus on innovation along with maintaining a sound balance sheet was the pitch for the third stock. This was further demonstrated by the fact that BMW grew almost 8% in China (one of the biggest markets for luxury vehicles) in 2018 when the overall market shrank for the first time since 1990.

The expert also spoke on the importance of seeking-out companies with a history of generating profits and to avoid the "bubble" of companies with high valuations and but without any realised results.

Here’s how these three stocks have performed since the first ASX investor day event took place at the end of May 2019:

Performance of the three pitched stocks since the first investor day event

Key takeaways for DIY investors

In the investor stream, the topics ranged from How to build a portfolio presented by Chris Brycki (CEO, Stockspot) to Alternative investing strategies presented by Luis Sarmiento (Investment Specialist, Macquarie Investment Management). The key message here was diversification, and it is a topic we covered at-length in a recent article entitled: Investment diversification: Why does it matter?

The discussion, moderated by Kris Walesby (CEO, ETF Securities), then progressed towards how investors can access global megatrends around robotics, AI and emerging economies by investing in ETFs.

Wade Matterson (Practice Leader, Australia) from Milliman, then elaborated on "expecting the unexpected" and how to make sure you have enough money to fund your retirement by considering your individual needs and requirements, and not just following a general target.

I enjoyed the event and look forward to the next series of ASX investor events.

Watch the ASX Investor Day event online

You can now watch video of the sessions at the Sydney ASX Investor Day event online below:

Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB47Ky_Cf7o&list=PLUm38kI3ZeYtGd2xNKy4xvABFdAwm0GAh

FURTHER READING

• How to see upcoming dividends with Sharesight
• Ex-dividend dates and their impact on stock prices explained
• Record-keeping requirements for Australian investors