GYC Insights
Articles on real-life financial issues written to educate and enlighten.
End-of-Year Musings About The Market
It can be a bit overwhelming how much can happen in such a short span of time. Regardless, our philosophy — built on evidence and research — remains the same.
China is an Example of Why You Need Global Diversification
Whilst many investors sometimes seek to alter their investment allocations to try to tap onto new growth areas or ideas in an effort to seek higher returns, not all of these deviations result in higher returns. Very often, it leads to worse outcomes.
Long-Term Investment? Doesn't Work All the Time
Buying to hold blue chips stocks for the long term is quite common advice, but data shows that in the long run only a handful of them retain their value, let alone increase it. Why is this so?
Waiting for Godot
After a depressing 2022 for investors, many prepared for the most widely anticipated recession in history. And yet, markets have defied the bad news by having a decent 1H 2023, with double-digit returns for global stocks.
Standing The Test of Time
The world economy changes across different time periods, shifting with changes in political power and other disruptions. Your investment portfolio should be constantly and consistently rebalanced to the latest accurate representation of what the world’s investible market is.
Current Banking Crisis Shows Why You Must Diversify
Banking crises have happened since the 1840s and the collapse of key players in the financial ecosystem often which lead to widespread panic and a scramble to preserve capital. The question on everyone’s minds is: ‘Is my money safe?’
What Does It Mean To Invest For The Long-Term?
The longer your investment horizon, the higher your chances of getting a positive investment return. But exactly how long are we talking about? Using one of our portfolios as an example, let’s take a look at some numbers.
Will China Do Well This Year? What About The US? Here's Why it Doesn't Matter.
Investment opportunities exist all around the globe, but the results of global stock returns seems almost random, and even purported positive news for countries do not always correlate to good investment performance.
Tis The Season
As the year comes to end, we will see financial institutions and managers publishing their predictions and outlooks for 2023. How reliable are these forecasts?
Margin of Safety
When it comes to money, many don’t cater enough margin of safety. Just like buying travel insurance before a holiday, or having a wet-weather plan for an outdoor event, your financial plan should have some contingencies and room for unforeseen circumstances.
Getting Wealthy vs Staying Wealthy — 2 Very Different Strategies
A study found that 70% of families lose all of their wealth by the second generation, with that number increasing to 90% the third generation. There are many books or strategies written teaching you how to get rich, but how do you actually protect your riches when you get to where you want to be?
Making Sense of Interest Rates
Many investors worry that the present market environment of rising interest rates will decrease equity valuations and therefore lead to relatively poor equity market performance over the next year or more. From a theoretical perspective, how do these rate hikes affect the market?
What Happens During a Recession?
Lately, financial media have been pushing out opinions from billionaires, banks, investment managers and just about anybody who wants to appear smart, on the breadth, depth and scope of the “upcoming recession”. So what does all of this mean to you and your money?
3 Simple Ways to Gain Confidence In Investing
Human beings are wired to have emotions — but relying on them to guide decisions may not always pan out. Here are some steps you can take to help you set your emotions aside and build confidence in your investing approach, no matter how the markets are doing.
Hedging Against Inflation
In April 2022, Singapore’s core inflation rate reached new heights — the highest it's been in a decade — with this in mind, sometimes playing it too safe in your investments can be a risk in itself.
Do Bonds Still Work?
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.
When Will Rates Rise Again?
Interest rates will eventually rise and when they do, the transition from a low-yield to a higher-yield environment can lead to capital losses in portfolios and also put pressure on those who have taken up new levels of debt. Are you prepared?
Speed Bump Ahead, Watch Your Speed
The market will eventually pull back — while there are some indicators that allow us to gauge the probability of a correction, we suggest that the best time to prepare yourself for such an event is now.