This article was originally featured on the Align Financial blog on 18 December 2018. If you’re reading the investment headlines in the news around this time of year, then you might start to feel a bit of anxiety around whether your investments are well placed. Reading the news is one thing but acting on it […]
Currency Hedging
If your portfolio contains assets held in a foreign currency, there is a risk that returns might be impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. As a result, it can be worthwhile knowing how currency fluctuations impact returns. But what exactly is currency hedging, and is it worth the extra costs? How do currency fluctuations affect […]
Interest rates are higher, why aren’t house prices lower?
Rising interest rates usually mean bad news for homeowners, as the cost of servicing existing mortgages goes up and consumers start to feel the pinch. You’d expect this to have a knock-on effect on house prices – higher rates should mean lower house prices as more people are pushed out of (or unable to enter) […]
Why Do Unit Prices Fall After 30 June?
Most managed investments including Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are offered by way of units in a unit trust. Units are to a unit trust what shares are to a company; they are the bits that fractionalise ownership. Unit prices often fall on the 1st of July when distributions are paid. Why does this happen? The […]
Why Do Share Prices Drop After a Dividend Payment?
Share prices often drop by the amount the dividends are paid. Why does this happen? The answer is quite logical; when the company pays out the dividend, the value of the company is reduced by the amount of the total payout. In other words, the amount paid out in dividends no longer belongs to the […]