Category: Stock Market

When it comes to ASX fund managers, none has been more prominent than Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) over the past few years. Before 2020, the talk would have been rather positive, one would guess. That’s because the Magellan share price rose more than 200% between December 2016 and February 2020.

But the past two or so years have been the exact opposite. Questions over the company’s direction, as well as creeping underperformance in its flagship Global Fund, have weighed heavily on investors’ minds since the onset of the pandemic. More recently, speculation regarding Magellan boss Hamish Douglass’ personal life, as well as the abrupt departure of its CEO Brett Cairns, seem to have further dented confidence.

Magellan shares are now down more than 45% year to date in 2021, as well as more than 60% from their 2020 peak of more than $70 a share. Today, the Magellan share price is sitting at $28.99 at the time of writing, down 3.01% for the day so far.

Perpetual throws down the gauntlet

Perhaps today’s sell-off is related to one of Magellan’s peers and rivals. Perpetual Ltd (ASX: PPT) shares are faring far better today. They are holding their ground at the time of writing at $35.44 a share, doing far better than Magellan. This could be related to the company’s announcement yesterday before market open.

Yesterday, Perpetual released the presentation for its Investor Day held last week. And it makes for some interesting reading (and viewing). Here, Perpetual outlined its vision going forward, and it seems Magellan is firmly in the company’s sights. Here’s some of what Perpetual CEO Rob Adams said during the presentation:

Over the last 25 years in the Australian retail marketplace…there’s been three dominant winners in global equities. And each had dominance for around 8 or 9 years. It was Kerr Neilson at BT, then it was Kerr Neilson at Platinum, then it’s been the team at Magellan… I want to position us to be the next winner. 

We are a competitor to Magellan… It’s important that we show strong outperformance, we are, and some of our competitors happen to be not performing well then that increases the opportunity for us.

In addition to these visionary statements, Perpetual also highlights its $101 billion (as of 30 September) of assets under management, which indeed is creeping closer to Magellan’s current $116 billion. That’s up significantly from the $28 billion Perpetual recorded in FY2020. No doubt helped by the acquisitions of Trillium Asset Management and Barrow Hanley over the past two years.

How does Magellan measure up?

So it remains to be seen whether Perpetual can overtake Magellan as a “dominant winner” of the ASX fund manager space. But now you know what the company is aiming for.

At the current Perpetual share price, this fund manager has a market capitalisation of $2.01 billion. It also commands a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 26.8 and a dividend yield of 5.08%. In contrast, Magellan Financial Group currently trades with a market cap of $5.4 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12 and a dividend yield of 7.26%.

The post Move over Magellan (ASX:MFG). This global equities manager is gunning for pole position appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
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• What to look for when investing in ASX microcap shares

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Shares in vitamins and supplements retailer Blackmores Ltd (ASX: BKL) have started the session poorly and are currently trading over 3% down at $90.32.

Whilst there’s been no price-sensitive information released by the company today, it did announce a transition of its CFO to be completed in February 2022. Here are the details.

What did Blackmores announce?

Blackmores advised that its current CFO, Gunther Burghardt, is leaving the company to pursue personal interests. Gunther will leave in late February 2022 following the release of Blackmores’ half year results.

Burghardt commenced with Blackmores in January 2020, and has played an “instrumental role in stabilising and helping get the transformation and strategic plan for sustainable growth underway”.

The company also advised that one Patrick Gibson to assume the CFO role from Burghardt next year. Gibson is a “proven CFO and business leader” and comes with a 30-year career in finance and over 20-years of consumer products sector experience in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, per the release.

Prior to working at GWA, Gibson was CFO at Goodman Fielder and held senior roles at Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB) and Unilever.

Speaking on the announcement, Blackmores Chief Executive Officer, Alastair Symington said:

Gunther has been a valuable contributor to the Executive Team and a trusted leader within the organisation over the past two years. On behalf of the Board, we sincerely thank Gunther for his significant contribution to Blackmores and wish him and his family the very best for the future. It is always important to have succession planning underway and we are very pleased to welcome Patrick Gibson to the role of Chief Financial Officer.

Symington continued:

Patrick has an outstanding track record of delivering significant business improvements and long-term shareholder return. His extensive ASX-listed finance, operational and commercial experience will be an asset to our Executive Team, and we look forward to continuing the work already underway to grow Blackmores.

Blackmores share price summary

The Blackmores share price has gained 12% in the past 12 months after rallying 19% this year to date.

In the past month, it has reversed course and slipped 7% into the red.

The post Here’s why the Blackmores (ASX:BKL) share price is sliding today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Blackmores Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Queensland Pacific Metals Ltd (ASX: QPM) share price surged this morning after the company exited a trading halt with news of a successful capital raise and major financial support.

The company raised $30 million through a placement. Meanwhile, it has received support from Export Finance Australia to secure up to $250 million of debt.

At the time of writing, the Queensland Pacific Metals share price is 2.86% higher at 18 cents.

However, earlier this morning, the company’s stock was trading at 19.5 cents, representing an 11.4% gain.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news from the critical metals producer.

Queensland Pacific Metals share price gains on Wednesday

The Queensland Pacific Metals share price soared this morning after the company announced it has secured funds for work at its TECH Project. Additionally, the Australian government’s export credit agency has expressed support for the project.  

The raised cash will go toward the project’s definitive feasibility study, as well as test work, engineering, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives.

Additionally, around $1 million of the capital will go to delineate a maiden JORC resource at the company’s Sewa Bay project.

The TECH Project will process critical chemicals from New Caledonian nickel laterite ore for the lithium-ion and electric vehicle market.

Under the placement, shares in Queensland Pacific Metals were going for 16 cents apiece. That represents an 8.6% discount on the company’s last traded price. It’s also a 7.5% discount on its 5-day volume-weighted average price to 10 December 2021.

According to the company, the placement saw several new offshore investors, some with an ESG focus, added to its register.

The company is also in the running to receive a $250 million debt facility from Export Finance Australia. Before the company is granted the facility, it must pass multiple checks.

These include completing the TECH Project’s feasibility study, providing an engineering strategy, and creating a funding plan.

Right now, the Queensland Pacific Metals share price is 337% higher than it was at the start of 2021. Though, it has fallen 27% over the last 30 days.

What did management say?

Queensland Pacific Metals managing director Dr Stephen Grocott commented on Export Finance Australia’s support:

When combined with the strong interest shown from commercial financiers, we have an increasing level of confidence in securing the appropriate debt funding package for the project. In particular, the conditional support offered by [Export Finance Australia] shows how the TECH Project broadly aligns with the objectives of the Australian Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy and the Critical Minerals Facility.

The post Here’s why the Queensland Pacific Metals (ASX:QPM) share price surged 11% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The crypto sector generated a lot of investor interest this year.

And for good reason.

Many of the top cryptos, like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), soared in 2021.

Despite some wild price swings along the way, Bitcoin is up 64% year-to-date and Ether is up 430%, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

This has seen the combined market cap of all cryptos exceed US$2.2 trillion.

Discussing the outlook for cryptos in 2022, Ian Lowe, CEO of crypto wealth platform Dacxi, told The Motley Fool:

Cryptocurrency’s role is evolving. Our research shows that the vast majority, 56%, of investors in Australia are investing in cryptos with long-term goals in mind, which goes against the grain of popular media coverage which focuses on ‘get rich quick’ messages.

And the outlook for cryptos beyond 2022 could look even stronger.

A new report by advisory and accounting firm EY forecasts that cryptos and related digital assets could generate more than $68 billion for the Aussie economy by 2030.

The virtual sector could also employ some 206,000 workers by then. That’s more than 17 times the number currently working in the cryptosphere.

Aussie crypto sector tipped to be worth $68 billion

As The Australian notes, the report was commissioned by Aussie crypto miner Mawson Infrastructure Group and launched by senator Andrew Bragg “who is responsible for helping deliver the federal government’s landmark crypto and digital payments reforms“.

Speaking in Sydney yesterday, Bragg said:

Cryptocurrencies and digital assets are rapidly emerging industries and will be a big part of our future economy. Australia’s new crypto plan could boost the sector’s national economic footprint 30-fold over the next decade.

This year I chaired the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre. In October the Select Committee handed down its Final Report.

Last week Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the government’s support of this plan with the largest shake up of payments in 25 years, and Australia will be a world leader thanks to the Treasurer’s plan.

What is the government’s plan surrounding digital assets?

Last week Frydenberg highlighted the importance of proper regulation of digital assets in Australia, saying:

The regulatory framework governing the payments system has remained largely unchanged over the last 25 years. Given the pace of change and those leading it, if we do not reform the current framework it will be Silicon Valley that determines the future of our payments system. Australia must retain its sovereignty over our payment system.

The Treasury and Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) are also investigating the possibility of launching an Aussie Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

The post Aussie crypto sector tipped to be worth $68 billion this decade appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) and Ethereum fall hard again. What’s going on?
• After a wild 2021, what can crypto investors expect in 2022?
• What is the better buy: Bitcoin vs. Ethereum

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price is edging higher on Wednesday.

At the time of writing, the iron ore producer’s shares are up 0.5% to $18.75.

Why is the Fortescue share price rising?

The Fortescue share price is rising today after the company signed an agreement with the Government of the Republic of Gabon to study the opportunity to develop the Belinga Iron Ore Project in the West African country.

According to the release, the agreement comprises a 36 month exclusivity period over an area totalling approximately 5,500 square kilometres to study and negotiate a mining convention for the development of the Belinga Iron Ore Project.

A separate Gabon mining company will be established to enter into the mining convention and to hold the mining tenure over the project. Fortescue will own 80% of this business, with the balance held by the Africa Transformation and Industrialisation Fund. This is an Africa-focused investment fund incorporated in Abu Dhabi.

The release advises that the joint venture will initially focus on exploration works to determine the potential size and grade of the Belinga iron ore deposit and logistics solutions.

Fortescue’s outgoing Chief Executive Officer, Ms Elizabeth Gaines, commented: “Consistent with our active business development and exploration programs, Fortescue is pursuing global opportunities in iron ore that align with our strategy and expertise. We look forward to working with the Gabon Government on this project as we continue to invest in assets to optimise growth and returns in our iron ore business.”

The company’s Chairman and Founder, Dr Andrew Forrest AO, echoed this sentiment.

He said: “We welcome this important agreement and opportunity to work with the Gabon Government on a project with huge potential for Gabon’s future economic growth and development. Fortescue began as a world-class exploration business and we believe that the Belinga Iron Ore Project is potentially one of the world’s largest undeveloped, high grade hematite deposits.”

“The opportunity to assess this project under a period of exclusivity and to partner with local expertise and the Gabon Government has the potential to add a significant iron ore operation to our world class portfolio,” Dr Forrest added.

The post Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price higher on African expansion plans appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The green investing trend is still thriving as investors seek to take advantage of the push towards a more sustainable society. Although it hasn’t been one of the most fruitful years for ASX renewable shares, some experts think 2022 could be a record-setter.

Since the beginning of the year, ASX-listed utility companies have struggled to outperform the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Despite the association with a more defensive investment, the sector has failed to attract much attention this year.

Part of this disinterest could be put down to the ongoing uncertainty from clean-energy legislation. At the same time, market participants are wary of a potentially higher interest rate environment.

Regardless, some analysts are expecting a positive year ahead for the renewables industry, which could be a catalyst for ASX renewable shares.

Hitting the gas on renewables in 2022

The energy researchers and analysts have been deep in their computer screens compiling their forecasts for a brand new year. A positive outlook for renewables has been reached by two completely separate teams.

Firstly, the United States renewable team at Deloitte has published their insights, painting an optimistic picture for 2022. Overall, Deloitte’s team forecasts an acceleration in renewable energy growth next year. The combination of increased concern for climate change and government policies regarding decarbonisation will drive this.

In its report, Deloitte highlights its expectation for increasing demand for solar paired with energy storage. Additionally, if all of the large-scale battery projects planned for between 2021 to 2025 go live, it would increase the US’ share of solar co-located battery storage to 50% from 24%.

Secondly, the energy research team at S&P Global Market Intelligence is also foreseeing an increase in the acceleration of renewable deployment next year. Commenting on this, head of commodities research at S&P Global Market Intelligence, Richard Sansom said:

It’s going to be a record year for renewable energy development in the U.S. in 2022, with 44 GW of solar and 27 GW of wind power set to be installed alongside more than 8 GW of battery storage.

Closer to home, Australia had 10.4 Gigawatts (GW) of renewable projects under construction or committed at the end of March.

Picking a winner among ASX-listed renewable shares

If demand for renewables increases there could be a number of ASX-listed companies that would get a boost. Though, picking the winners from the losers might prove difficult.

The ASX boards are now littered with companies jumping on the green trend in some way or another. Exacerbating this is the expansion of what is considered ‘green technology’. A full list might now include hydrogen producers and lithium miners — alongside the traditional solar and wind names.

Some of the more well-known renewable power generators underperformed the Australian benchmark this year (as pictured above). However, a number of hydrogen hopefuls and lithium producers blew the index clean out of the water with their returns.

Finally, even energy blue-chips could possibly be considered ASX renewable shares. The likes of AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) and Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) now own a number of renewable energy assets. Though, it still pales in comparison to their fossil fuel segments.

The post What is the outlook for ASX renewable shares in 2022? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• How might renewable energy investment opportunities play out in 2022?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns Genex Power Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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At lunch on Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a disappointing decline. The benchmark index is currently down 0.5% to 7,340.1 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

Corporate Travel Management equity raising

The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price is in a trading halt today as it seeks to raise $100 million via a $75 million institutional placement and a $25 million share purchase plan. These funds will be raised at $21.00 per new share, which represents a 5.8% discount to its last close price. Corporate Travel Management is acquiring the corporate and entertainment travel businesses in Australia and New Zealand of Helloworld Travel Limited (ASX: HLO).

CSL shares upgraded

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price could be great value according to the team at Citi. In response to its acquisition of Vifor Pharma for $17.2 billion, this morning the broker upgraded the biotherapeutics company’s shares to a buy rating with a $340.00 price target. Citi commented: “We calculate the acquisition to be ~9% accretive to NPATA per share.”

Westpac annual general meeting

The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is pushing higher today following the release of its annual general meeting presentation. At the meeting, Westpac’s Chair, John McFarlane, quashed concerns about its cost cutting plans. He firmly believes that the bank’s cost base can reduce to $8 billion by 2024. This compares to $13.3 billion or $10.9 billion excluding notable items in FY 2021.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Wednesday has been the Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) share price with a 3% gain on the back of no news. The worst performer has been the Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price with a 5% decline. This follows broad weakness in the tech sector after a poor night of trade on Wall Street’s Nasdaq index.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: CSL upgraded, Westpac AGM update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What is the outlook for ASX renewable shares in 2022?
• Helloworld (ASX:HLO) share price surges 10% on $175m asset sale
• Citi upgrades CSL (ASX:CSL) share price to buy rating on Vifor Pharma deal
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price edges higher amid AGM resolutions
• Why is the Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) share price halted?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended CSL Ltd., Helloworld Limited, and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Helloworld Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd, and Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Helloworld Travel Ltd (ASX: HLO) share price is soaring higher this morning. It comes after the company announced a major asset sale.

It has agreed to palm off its corporate and entertainment travel businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) will pay $175 million to take on the businesses.

At the time of writing, the Helloworld share price is $2.53, 10.48% higher than its previous close.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news from the global travel company.

Helloworld share price takes off on asset sale

The Helloworld share price is gaining after the company announced it’s selling its corporate and entertainment travel businesses just as they start to benefit from the COVID-19 rebound.

The sale will see the company with more funds to boost its other businesses towards pre-pandemic activity levels.

Corporate Travel Management has agreed to pay $100 million in cash and $75 million in scrip for the assets. After the sale, the scrip will be escrowed for 12 months.

According to the company, the sale represents “strong value creation” following a period of contract wins and extensions in its corporate business.

Helloworld will use the money to repay its debt. The sale will bring its total liquidity to $155 million and increase its cash holdings to $85 million.

It will, therefore, support growth opportunities in the company’s retail and leisure travel businesses.

It also expects the funds will allow the company to profit on pent-up demand for travel and high household savings once borders fully reopen.

The soon-to-be-divested businesses brought in around $22 million of pro forma normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in financial year 2019.

Following the transaction, the company will keep working on its leisure and corporate travel networks, air consolidation business, wholesale and inbound businesses, and its logistics business.

The sale is set to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. It’s subject to several conditions, including regulatory approvals.

The company’s share price could also be gaining on news of a strong November.

Helloworld brought in $94.8 million of non-corporate total transaction value last month. That’s 50.5% more than it did in October 2021 and 191.7% more than it did in November 2020.

What did management say?

Helloworld CEO and managing director Andrew Burnes commented on the sale driving the company’s share price higher today:

While our corporate and entertainment travel businesses are in the early stages of benefiting from the COVID-19 rebound, we believe this transaction is at a compelling valuation to maximise Helloworld shareholder value and that will allow Helloworld to focus on operations which, pre COVID-19, represented 80% of our [total transaction value].

Helloworld share price snapshot

Today’s gains haven’t been enough to boost the Helloworld share price back into the long term green.

Right now, the company’s stock is trading for nearly the same price it opened at on the first day of trade in 2021. It has fallen 6.6% since this time last month.

The post Helloworld (ASX:HLO) share price surges 10% on $175m asset sale appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) share price halted?
• Why have investors been saying goodbye to Helloworld (ASX:HLO) shares lately?
• Why is the Helloworld (ASX:HLO) share price tumbling 6% on Friday?
• Here’s why ASX 200 travel shares are getting hammered today

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Helloworld Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Helloworld Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) is currently trading for US$3,844 (AU$5,413).

That’s up 419% so far in 2021.

But it hasn’t all been uphill.

Ethereum hit all time highs on 10 November, touching US$4,865. Which puts the world’s number 2 crypto by market cap down 21% in just over a month.

That’s all virtual water under the bridge. Now crypto investors are casting their eyes to the year ahead.

What’s ahead for the number 2 crypto in 2022?

Josh Gilbert, crypto analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro, told The Motley Fool:

Ethereum looks like it could be set for a strong year in 2022, following its roaring success in 2021. It underpins much of DeFi [decentralised finance] and NFTs [non-fungible tokens], arguably the hottest 2 crypto components right now.

Gilbert also pointed to an expected decrease in supply of the token in 2022:

The cryptoasset has also introduced a burn mechanism with the introduction of the EIP-1559 upgrade, which will slow the supply of Ether whilst demand continues to soar. In 2022, we will see further upgrades to the Ethereum network as part of the ETH 2.0 upgrade. These updates will improve the scalability and security of ETH.

What can investors expect from Ethereum 2.0?

With the rapid pace of innovations in the crypto world, you’d be forgiven for not being atop all the latest upgrades.

To get the inside scoop on what crypto investors can expect from the ongoing Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, The Motely Fool turned to Ray Brown, market analyst at crypto exchange CoinSpot.

Brown told us:

Ethereum 2.0 is the first major multi-phase upgrade of the Ethereum blockchain, intended to increase the Ethereum network’s speed, efficiency, and scalability while boosting security and making the network more sustainable.

Supporters of the ETH blockchain are likely to see a reduction in gas and transaction fees and increased transaction throughput which have been seen as limiting factors of the network’s success.

Essentially, with Ethereum 1.0, many investors identified a number of bottlenecks, including the need to increase the number of possible transactions per section (currently 15 to 45).

The 2 main structural changes of the upgrade, Brown said, are a transition to Proof-of-Stake from Proof-Of-Work and the introduction of sharding.

So what’s the difference between Proof-of-Stake and Proof-Of-Work?

According to Brown, among other things, it will significantly reduce the token’s carbon footprint:

Proof-of-Stake (PoS) is a consensus method that states a person can mine or validate block transactions based on how many coins they hold. The more coins a miner owns, the more mining power they have.

Switching to PoS from the current mechanism of Proof-of-Work (PoW) will make Ethereum significantly more environmentally friendly, given it will no longer require huge amounts of computing energy to crack mathematical equations that currently validate its blocks.

As for sharding, Brown explained:

Sharding is the splitting of a blockchain into multiple blockchains, also known as ‘shards’. Sharding is basically spreading the load across multiple portions, meaning reduced network congestion and increased transactions per second for ETH transactions.

Ethereum 2.0 has been rolling out in phases with smaller upgrades, Brown said. The 2.0 upgrade is expected to be completed around June 2022.

So, is Ethereum 2.0 going to be worth the effort?

“If executed correctly, it could be a complete game changer and will certainly be worth the wait,” Brown told The Motley Fool.

The post Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) is up 419% in 2021. Here’s what’s ahead for 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) and Ethereum fall hard again. What’s going on?
• After a wild 2021, what can crypto investors expect in 2022?
• What is the better buy: Bitcoin vs. Ethereum
• Why cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Polygon, and Terra fell today
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano continue to recover from late-week selloffs

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum.  The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Earlier today, I looked at the bank shares that Bell Potter is recommending investors buy in 2022. You can read about them here.

On this occasion, let’s take a look at the tech sector and the shares that the broker believes are the top picks for next year.

Which tech shares does the broker like?

According to the note, Bell Potter is more cautious on the tech sector in 2022 than in previous years due to rising interest rates.

Analyst Chris Savage explained: “Such an environment is negative for high growth stocks which have low or negative cash flows/earnings now and only reasonable or meaningful cash flows/earnings in several years’ time.”

“With this in mind we are more attracted to stocks in the tech sector with reasonable cash flows/earnings now and which also have reasonable to strong growth outlooks. We believe these sorts of stocks will continue to perform well – even in a rising interest rate environment – given we are still also in a low growth environment,” he added.

Here are the picks:

Infomedia Limited (ASX: IFM)

Bell Potter has a buy rating and $2.00 price target on the shares of this leading provider of software solutions to the parts and service sectors of the global automotive industry. After a tough time during the pandemic, Infomedia returned to form in the second half of FY 2021 as lockdowns eased. Bell Potter believes it is onwards and upwards from here.

It commented: “We expect this good organic growth to continue into FY22 and this is consistent with the guidance which is for around 20% revenue growth (split roughly evenly between organic growth and an acquisition). The recent issue has been the sudden departure of the CEO but we don’t believe this means there is anything wrong with the company and, rather, when a new CEO is appointed we see this as a likely catalyst for the share price.”

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

Its analysts remain very positive on this app maker’s shares and have a buy rating and $16.25 price target on them. Bell Potter likes Life360’s freemium model and ability to convert its user base into paying subscribers. It expects this trend to continue and be supported by recent acquisitions.

The broker said: “The company has also recently announced two acquisitions – Jiobit and Tile – so that now it not only connects and protects people but also pets and things. Yes Life360 is currently not profitable but the unique positioning of the company means it is well placed to disrupt the safety and security market and so achieve strong top line growth for years to come.”

TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)

Bell Potter also remains very positive on this enterprise software company. It currently has a buy rating and $15.00 price target on its shares.

Its analysts commented: “The key competitive advantage of the company is it has developed a fully integrated SaaS solution of its software and is now switching customers to this solution. The migration is now >50% complete and Technology One is starting to reap the benefits of greater recurring revenue and a higher margin. This combination will in our view drive double digit earnings growth for years to come and, as the migration of customers approaches 100%, we expect the multiple to re-rate to that of a pure SaaS company.”

The post Top broker names the best ASX tech shares to buy in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns Life360, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Infomedia and Life360, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Infomedia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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