In my recent interview with Ausbiz, I discussed the current favourable conditions for investing in smaller companies. Small caps have seen a commendable increase of about 4% this year, driven by a combination of disinflation and positive economic growth.

As a low-cost and long-life spodumene producer (spodumene is a raw material used to produce lithium for batteries in your phone, e-bike and electric vehicles (EVs), Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) is one of the highest quality single commodity miners on the ASX. The share price has been punished recently, with the spodumene price falling from over U. S.

Retail stocks were on the nose for some time amid fears of recession, the impact of rising interest rates, the cost-of-living crisis and inflation’s impact on the cost of doing business.   The recent HY24 reporting season, however, revealed much of the fear was misplaced. Aggregate revenue growth tended to beat estimates despite moderating slightly.

New spending figures published by the Association of Superannuation Fund of Australia (ASFA) define what it means to be comfortable in retirement. And while their numbers are well above the current age pension payments, I am not sure even those elevated numbers realistically measure up to what many, if not most, people would describe as comfortable.

Predicting private credit will become a much more important part of investors’ portfolios and an asset class in its own right has been easy. Who wouldn’t want higher yields with low volatility?

In the ever-changing landscape of financial markets, 2023 defied expectations, with highly anticipated recessions in Australia and the U. S. failing to materialise. But the macroeconomic insights of Gavekal Research, from all the way back to 1978 – that innovative growth stocks with pricing power do well amid disinflation and positive economic growth –, has proven consistently prescient.

It’s unlikely you’ve heard of Audinate (ASX:AD8), a holding in the Montgomery Small Companies Fund. Audinate is a company with shares listed in the small cap sector of the Australian stock market. It might have flown under your radar by virtue of its size.

ASX listed Life360 (ASX:360), a family safety app that allows GPS location sharing is one of the larger and more exciting companies held by the Montgomery Small Companies Fund. In the two business days since Life360 announced its results for the year to 31 December 2023, the share price has jumped 46 per cent from $8. 30 to $12.