With greater access to technology equipping yourself with a few apps, real-time news, and data feeds can make you feel like a pro-trader. Does keeping up to date with everything that’s happening around the world give you an edge in investing?

Volatility and downturns are part and parcel of investing, and it happens more often than you think. As long as you are holding a diversified global portfolio, staying put throughout the turbulence would have given you a long-term return over 7% in SGD terms.

When the US Federal Reserve committed to raise interest rates in the face of rising inflation, investors and financial media like Bloomberg, Morningstar, and Yahoo Finance were quick to predict that bonds will underperform cash. Looking at over 30 years of International Government Bond data, we examine the validity of these forecasts.

Uncertainty is built into our world. How should we approach the idea of the unexpected when looking at the financial markets and its expected return?

National debt is rising everywhere around the world with the US sitting at the top at $22 trillion dollars (at end 2020). However, in terms of debt to GDP ratios, it is not the most indebted country in the world.

Volatility is back in the markets after one and a half years of relatively smooth sailing and rising asset prices. But just how common are market declines and what do they mean for annual returns?

Articles and investment outlooks from Bloomberg to The Straits Times seem to suggest that the spectre of inflation is one to be worried about. With inflation-beating investment solutions being pumped out by institutions like DBS and Schroders, one has to wonder, how big a problem is inflation to my investments?

With the end of easy money policies from central banks around the world and expectations of rising interest rates, you may be wondering — Should bonds play a role in my investments? In this environment, why hold bonds at all?’ In addition to the wealth of existing peer reviewed academic evidence, a recent machine learning analysis by Vanguard may help to provide some insights.

As we look ahead to 2022, we continue to feel optimistic and happy with the markets. If anything, we have a renewed sense of confidence — our investment beliefs, tenets and philosophy have been tested on numerous occasions during the recent crisis and we are pleased to say that it has all held up well.

Panic selling not only locks in your losses but also puts you at risk for missing the market’s best days, and the impact of missing just a few of the market’s best days can be profound

Crypto has crept from being a bet in the domain of tech lovers and the geeks to the wallets of the mainstream investor. From experienced investors to individuals just beginning their investment journey, many are wondering ‘Are cryptocurrencies something I should look into?’

We can’t dispute that rising costs and inflation are at our doorstep; we could however, argue against the claim that a doomsday outcome on stocks is certain whenever interest rates rise. Let’s see what the data has to say.

The recent increase in the cost of some goods and services due to the return of demand after closures and lockdowns has surprised some of us and made the news. How exactly does inflation affect stock returns? Let’s take a look at the data.

Investopedia defines ‘Home Bias’ as the tendency for investors to invest the majority of their portfolio in domestic equities. However, putting too much of your money into homegrown companies doesn’t pay off all the time. Diversification spreads your investments among more components and reduces risk in your portfolio.

History was made when a young Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity when he was was hit on the head by a falling piece of fruit. Does the law of gravity have any bearing on financial markets?

When it comes to investing, the biggest elephant in the room is the word — “uncertainty.” No one can say for certain what the markets will do nor is there a crystal ball that’ll show you the outcome of any situation. However, we have provided some pointers that can help you keep things in perspective during this “uncertain” period.

You probably hear more stories of trading success than failure, but robust data and research show that overwhelmingly, traders perform worse than the market. Are the odds stacked against the day trader?

The last time tapering occurred in 2013, markets wobbled for a while, and bonds - the most badly affected of all asset classes - suffered a significant loss over a short period of time. The event was then dubbed the “Taper Tantrum”. With a fresh round of tapering looming on the horizon, how worried should we be of our investments?