Takeaways from Livewire Live

The Sharesight team dropped in at Livewire Live, hosted by Bell Direct and ASX. Livewire Live is only in its second year, but the panelists were top notch and the auditorium packed. If you're an Australian investor, have exposure to Australia, or are curious to see the world from an Australian investor's standpoint make sure you watch this year's recorded videos and attend next year's event (or check out the livestream).

The year's panel discussions focused on:

1. MACROECONOMICS — "Can we get out of this alive?"
2. STRATEGY — "The art and science of beating the market"
3. EQUITIES — "Picking today's winners and avoiding the bombs"
4. TECHNOLOGY — "Making sense of the big new trends"

And the lineup was packed with well-known money managers:

• Geoff Wilson (Wilson Asset Mgt)
• Matthew Kidman (Centennial Asset Mgt)
• Mark Burgess (Jamieson Coote Bonds)
• Nikki Thomas (Magellan FG)
• Vimal Gor (BT Investment Mgt)
• Paul Moore (PM Capital)
• Roger Montgomery (Montgomery AM)
• Steve Johnson (Forager Funds)
• Crispin Murray (BT Investment Mgt)
• Ben Griffiths (Eley Griffiths)
• Elaine Stead (Blue Sky VC)
• Alex Pollack (Loftus Peak)
• Daniel Petre (Airtree)
• Ben Clark (TMS Capital)

A recap on our blog won't do justice to the panel discussions and audience Q&A, so check out the official videos on the Livewire site:

Here are a few quotes that caught my attention:

Will the Indian economy generate the kind of resources boom that we saw in China? I don't think so.

Too many Australian CEOs turn their companies into bonds.

Don't think about making money on trends. Think about what trends technology will destroy.

No ETF can replace active management in this low yield environment. You need to make investment decisions based on companies.

The ASX will return mid single digits at best.

We love the New Zealand market, including Auckland Airport and their tech sector.

Australian Boards have no idea because of short-term incentives, but privately they'll admit that finance and healthcare will be disrupted.

Self-driving cars are the next major disruption.

Most of the US outperformance comes from the tech sector. We don't have those companies in Australia.

Australia does have global tech players, but we're too focussed on the listed market.

Investors who ignore tech do so at their peril.

UPDATE

The Aussie fund managers above were asked to make a stock pick. We're tracking them in our Livewire Live portfolio!

And remember, you can read Livewire insights directly inside your Sharesight portfolio from the News panel of your holding pages.

FURTHER READING

• Blog -- Livewire Live 2017 - Free Digital Pass offer
• Blog -- Get The Motley Fool UK insights in Sharesight
• Blog -- Get Livewire market insights within your portfolio