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To many investors, it’s indisputable: a warming climate has caused the number and severity of natural disasters to increase. Moreover, this supposedly rising tide of devastation threatens Australians and their insurers. These claims are being repeated increasingly frequently and … [Read more...] about Will climate change soon make Australia “uninsurable”?

This article summarises Leithner & Co.’s assessment of three key commonly-cited macro-economic risks: (1) increasing inflation, (2) stagnant or declining economic growth and (3) rising interest rates. By analysing a long series of data compiled mostly by Robert Shiller, I … [Read more...] about Three risks you can discount – and one you can’t

“There are lots of reasons why investors get excited about small stocks, particularly in Australia,” a global asset manager stated in a report published in 2017. These reasons include “the higher growth rates that smaller companies can achieve” and “the myriad of successful … [Read more...] about The myth of the small cap premium

In 2015, Leithner and Company Ltd purchased shares of BHP. In June of this year, we sold them. Over these years, this investment generated an unexpected but gratifying compound rate of total return of almost 30% per year. Using it as an example, this article summarises our … [Read more...] about Our approach to selling – and why we sold BHP

Why, particularly since the GFC, have Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s returns outpaced ANZ’s, NAB’s and Westpac’s? For decades, macro-economic conditions have affected each of the Big Four in much the same way; and since 2017-2018, in the wake of the findings of the Royal … [Read more...] about Does CBA deserve its premium?