1 00:00:04,140 --> 00:00:07,020 Sean Aylmer: Welcome to the Fear and Greed daily interview. I'm Sean Aylmer. 2 00:00:07,290 --> 00:00:11,070 Sean Aylmer: The collapse of crypto exchange FTX, has spooked a lot 3 00:00:11,070 --> 00:00:14,460 Sean Aylmer: of people, with tens of thousands of Australians among investors 4 00:00:14,700 --> 00:00:18,599 Sean Aylmer: losing their money. And that weariness goes beyond cryptocurrency, even 5 00:00:18,630 --> 00:00:22,260 Sean Aylmer: investors in traditional share markets seem to be getting just 6 00:00:22,260 --> 00:00:24,840 Sean Aylmer: a little nervous. I wanted to look today at what 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,680 Sean Aylmer: protections are in place for equity investors. Chris Brycki is 8 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,800 Sean Aylmer: the CEO and founder of online investment advisor, Stockspot. Chris, 9 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:33,060 Sean Aylmer: welcome back to Fear and Greed. 10 00:00:33,390 --> 00:00:35,370 Chris Brycki: Thanks, Sean. Thanks for having me back. 11 00:00:35,430 --> 00:00:39,090 Sean Aylmer: You're seeing a rise in queries from customers asking how 12 00:00:39,090 --> 00:00:44,280 Sean Aylmer: you keep their shares safe. That's a pretty reasonable question, 13 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:46,170 Sean Aylmer: given the current climate, wouldn't you agree? 14 00:00:46,979 --> 00:00:49,530 Chris Brycki: That's right. I mean, we've had a year of volatility, 15 00:00:49,530 --> 00:00:53,280 Chris Brycki: but actually the increase we've seen, more recently, on inquiries 16 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,610 Chris Brycki: is really related to a lot of the crypto mayhem 17 00:00:56,610 --> 00:00:59,490 Chris Brycki: that's been happening out of the US and coming across 18 00:00:59,490 --> 00:01:02,760 Chris Brycki: to Australia as well. And some of these big exchanges, 19 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,610 Chris Brycki: that a lot of people trusted to have their money 20 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,209 Chris Brycki: stored and have their crypto assets stored, going belly up, 21 00:01:09,209 --> 00:01:12,179 Chris Brycki: I think, really concerns people. And it makes them think, 22 00:01:12,180 --> 00:01:14,550 Chris Brycki: what about all of my other investments, how safe are 23 00:01:14,550 --> 00:01:17,880 Chris Brycki: they? And what could happen if the companies managing those 24 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:18,569 Chris Brycki: went belly up? 25 00:01:19,140 --> 00:01:23,280 Sean Aylmer: Okay. So what does happen if a brokerage, an equity 26 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:24,540 Sean Aylmer: brokerage, goes under? 27 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,959 Chris Brycki: Well, it's a good question and it's different, actually, based 28 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,959 Chris Brycki: on the broker that you're using in Australia. So typically, 29 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,290 Chris Brycki: shares or ETFs, or whatever you're investing in on an 30 00:01:34,290 --> 00:01:36,959 Chris Brycki: exchange in Australia, the assets can be held in one 31 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:41,069 Chris Brycki: of two ways. So the traditional and most safe way 32 00:01:41,069 --> 00:01:43,380 Chris Brycki: is for your assets to be held on what's known 33 00:01:43,380 --> 00:01:47,370 Chris Brycki: as a HIN, a Holder Identification Number, which is basically 34 00:01:47,850 --> 00:01:50,640 Chris Brycki: a number, that's your own number, that then the sub- 35 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,940 Chris Brycki: registry maintains a register of what you own. And then 36 00:01:53,940 --> 00:01:57,210 Chris Brycki: in the event of your broker, or your financial advisor 37 00:01:57,450 --> 00:02:01,200 Chris Brycki: for that matter, going bankrupt, nothing is really going to 38 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,200 Chris Brycki: happen to your investments apart from you having the ability 39 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,050 Chris Brycki: to transfer them to another broker or another financial advisor. 40 00:02:07,050 --> 00:02:12,210 Chris Brycki: Because your broker advisor never has ownership or custody over 41 00:02:12,210 --> 00:02:15,389 Chris Brycki: those investments. So that's quite common, and a lot of 42 00:02:15,389 --> 00:02:18,120 Chris Brycki: the stock brokers use that. I mean, we certainly use 43 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,639 Chris Brycki: that at Stockspot because we think it's the safest thing 44 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,130 Chris Brycki: to do for clients. Then on the other side of 45 00:02:23,130 --> 00:02:26,580 Chris Brycki: the spectrum, you have custodian based models, and this is 46 00:02:26,580 --> 00:02:30,300 Chris Brycki: where typically a whole bunch of different client investments are 47 00:02:30,300 --> 00:02:33,900 Chris Brycki: held together in one account. And then someone, and it 48 00:02:33,900 --> 00:02:35,880 Chris Brycki: could be your broker or it could be your advisor, 49 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,100 Chris Brycki: or it could be a third party, is basically doing 50 00:02:38,100 --> 00:02:41,730 Chris Brycki: the accounting for who owns what. So they'll have a sub- 51 00:02:41,730 --> 00:02:46,080 Chris Brycki: register or a tally of how many shares belong to 52 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:49,260 Chris Brycki: person A and person B and person C, and it's 53 00:02:49,260 --> 00:02:52,710 Chris Brycki: their responsibility to really maintain that. But what we've seen 54 00:02:52,710 --> 00:02:55,829 Chris Brycki: from FTX, and some of these other blowups in Australia 55 00:02:55,830 --> 00:02:58,980 Chris Brycki: in the past and around the world is, sometimes that 56 00:02:58,980 --> 00:03:03,150 Chris Brycki: business managing the register isn't doing the right thing. Sometimes 57 00:03:03,150 --> 00:03:07,080 Chris Brycki: it's borderline fraud or very obviously wrong, or sometimes they 58 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,530 Chris Brycki: just make mistakes and they accidentally miscount. But it adds 59 00:03:10,530 --> 00:03:13,169 Chris Brycki: an extra level of risk when you own investments in 60 00:03:13,169 --> 00:03:13,920 Chris Brycki: that sort of model. 61 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,300 Sean Aylmer: So have we seen that custodian model in Australia very 62 00:03:18,300 --> 00:03:20,639 Sean Aylmer: much? Is it very prominent in Australia, and have we 63 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:24,600 Sean Aylmer: actually seen people lose their money because that model, the 64 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,510 Sean Aylmer: custodian themselves, have gone bankrupt? 65 00:03:27,780 --> 00:03:32,880 Chris Brycki: We have, and this, I guess, is common in all 66 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,030 Chris Brycki: markets, typically a lot of these blowups happen at the 67 00:03:36,030 --> 00:03:39,270 Chris Brycki: end of the boom of the share market cycle. And 68 00:03:39,270 --> 00:03:41,970 Chris Brycki: clearly this FTX example happened at the end of the 69 00:03:42,030 --> 00:03:46,320 Chris Brycki: crypto boom. So back in 2007, 2008 and the few years that 70 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,750 Chris Brycki: followed, there were quite a few of these blowups in 71 00:03:48,750 --> 00:03:52,619 Chris Brycki: Australia. And not all were entirely related to this custody 72 00:03:52,620 --> 00:03:54,330 Chris Brycki: model, but a lot of them had that in common, 73 00:03:54,330 --> 00:03:59,370 Chris Brycki: and these included businesses like Storm Financial, Opus Prime, MF 74 00:03:59,370 --> 00:04:03,270 Chris Brycki: Global was quite a well known global example. And more 75 00:04:03,270 --> 00:04:06,600 Chris Brycki: recently, a stock broker called Halifax, only a few years 76 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:11,280 Chris Brycki: ago, went into administration and $ 200 million of client assets 77 00:04:11,430 --> 00:04:14,850 Chris Brycki: were basically unaccounted for and needed to be found. And 78 00:04:14,850 --> 00:04:18,719 Chris Brycki: so, unfortunately, it does happen, to the extent that we've 79 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,510 Chris Brycki: seen it for FTX in global crypto markets, I mean, 80 00:04:21,510 --> 00:04:24,659 Chris Brycki: that's an enormous example and one that I'm sure there'll 81 00:04:24,660 --> 00:04:28,229 Chris Brycki: be books and movies made about in the future. But 82 00:04:28,230 --> 00:04:32,310 Chris Brycki: yeah, unfortunately, it's an example and a combination of greed 83 00:04:32,310 --> 00:04:36,150 Chris Brycki: and incompetence usually leads to this sort of thing happening. 84 00:04:36,540 --> 00:04:38,489 Chris Brycki: But it's something I think all investors need to be 85 00:04:38,490 --> 00:04:41,610 Chris Brycki: aware of is that when you're investing, you've got two 86 00:04:41,610 --> 00:04:44,130 Chris Brycki: risks. One is the risk of whatever you've invested into, 87 00:04:44,130 --> 00:04:46,799 Chris Brycki: that BHP share price could go up or down, or 88 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,020 Chris Brycki: the ETF you've bought could go up or down, but 89 00:04:49,020 --> 00:04:51,570 Chris Brycki: then you've got the risk of who's holding those investments 90 00:04:51,570 --> 00:04:54,090 Chris Brycki: for you. And that's a risk, I mean, I think, 91 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,250 Chris Brycki: it's much safer to eliminate if you can. 92 00:04:56,730 --> 00:05:00,570 Sean Aylmer: Yeah, so I mean the CHESS sponsorship or the HIN is a way of 93 00:05:01,140 --> 00:05:03,090 Sean Aylmer: really eliminating that risk, is that correct? 94 00:05:03,690 --> 00:05:08,159 Chris Brycki: It is, yes, because you become not only the beneficial 95 00:05:08,190 --> 00:05:10,409 Chris Brycki: owner of those investments, which means you have the rights 96 00:05:10,410 --> 00:05:13,140 Chris Brycki: to the assets, but you become the legal owner of 97 00:05:13,140 --> 00:05:15,870 Chris Brycki: those assets. So in the event that your stock broker 98 00:05:15,870 --> 00:05:19,140 Chris Brycki: advisor goes bankrupt, you don't become a creditor to that 99 00:05:19,140 --> 00:05:23,070 Chris Brycki: business and basically be forced to chase after your assets. 100 00:05:23,220 --> 00:05:25,110 Chris Brycki: They've never gone out of your hands in the first 101 00:05:25,110 --> 00:05:27,750 Chris Brycki: place. And there's other benefits of that model as well. 102 00:05:27,990 --> 00:05:30,900 Chris Brycki: Tax benefits, I think, is one that people don't appreciate 103 00:05:31,380 --> 00:05:34,260 Chris Brycki: that well. But the benefits, I think, are quite large, 104 00:05:34,260 --> 00:05:37,380 Chris Brycki: and the cost really of having your assets held under 105 00:05:37,380 --> 00:05:40,470 Chris Brycki: that CHESS or HIN model in Australia, is not that 106 00:05:40,470 --> 00:05:44,400 Chris Brycki: high these days. So in the past, brokerage costs to 107 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,920 Chris Brycki: own your shares under that model were very high. And for some of 108 00:05:47,370 --> 00:05:49,470 Chris Brycki: the traditional brokers, they still are quite high, in my 109 00:05:49,470 --> 00:05:52,350 Chris Brycki: opinion, compared to other parts of the world. If you're 110 00:05:52,350 --> 00:05:57,659 Chris Brycki: paying 20 or $30 brokerage, long gone are the days that you 111 00:05:57,660 --> 00:06:00,390 Chris Brycki: should have to pay that amount in brokerage. But these 112 00:06:00,390 --> 00:06:04,290 Chris Brycki: days the real cost of that model, from what I've 113 00:06:04,290 --> 00:06:08,040 Chris Brycki: seen, is probably something like 0. 1% per year to 0. 114 00:06:08,370 --> 00:06:11,370 Chris Brycki: 2%, to have your investments held on a HIN. And 115 00:06:11,790 --> 00:06:13,950 Chris Brycki: if you think of it like insurance, a lot of 116 00:06:13,950 --> 00:06:16,080 Chris Brycki: other things you insure, like your house or your car, 117 00:06:16,230 --> 00:06:19,500 Chris Brycki: you pay a lot more than 0. 1% of the asset 118 00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:22,469 Chris Brycki: value to ensure it. And so it seems pretty good 119 00:06:22,470 --> 00:06:23,190 Chris Brycki: value to me. 120 00:06:23,370 --> 00:06:25,169 Sean Aylmer: Stay with me, Chris, we'll be back in a minute. 121 00:06:31,410 --> 00:06:34,320 Sean Aylmer: I'm speaking to Chris Brycki, CEO and founder of online 122 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,760 Sean Aylmer: investment advisor, Stockspot. Okay. Now I want a bit of a 101, 123 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,640 Sean Aylmer: we talk about CHESS sponsorship and what I'm trying to 124 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,580 Sean Aylmer: get to is the fact that ASX has ditched its 125 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,720 Sean Aylmer: CHESS clearing and settlement replacement project. Can you explain CHESS 126 00:06:48,779 --> 00:06:51,659 Sean Aylmer: to me up front and then what the ASX was 127 00:06:51,660 --> 00:06:52,290 Sean Aylmer: trying to do? 128 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,570 Chris Brycki: Sure. I mean, I can try. So the CHESS model 129 00:06:57,570 --> 00:07:01,409 Chris Brycki: is really just a registry that maintains a ledger of 130 00:07:01,410 --> 00:07:05,099 Chris Brycki: everyone's investment holding. So when you buy a share on 131 00:07:05,100 --> 00:07:08,010 Chris Brycki: the ASX, it will be lodged in this register. And 132 00:07:08,010 --> 00:07:10,710 Chris Brycki: then what you'll often notice is you'll receive a mail, 133 00:07:10,710 --> 00:07:14,010 Chris Brycki: or hopefully these days, something electronic if you're trying to 134 00:07:14,010 --> 00:07:17,490 Chris Brycki: save paper, that says you now own 10 units in whatever 135 00:07:17,490 --> 00:07:19,380 Chris Brycki: it is that you've bought. And then when you sell 136 00:07:19,380 --> 00:07:22,260 Chris Brycki: it, you'll receive an update that says that the ledger 137 00:07:22,260 --> 00:07:24,990 Chris Brycki: or the registry is updated and you've now sold that. 138 00:07:25,230 --> 00:07:29,640 Chris Brycki: But there's basically, yeah, a ledger that's maintained that accounts 139 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:31,680 Chris Brycki: for all the ins and outs for each of your 140 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,530 Chris Brycki: holdings. And at any point you can go and query 141 00:07:34,530 --> 00:07:37,500 Chris Brycki: the ledger to find out what you own. So one 142 00:07:37,500 --> 00:07:40,050 Chris Brycki: of the big projects that ASX has been working on 143 00:07:40,050 --> 00:07:42,630 Chris Brycki: for quite a period of time now is trying to 144 00:07:42,990 --> 00:07:47,100 Chris Brycki: improve the technology that sits behind that ledger. And I 145 00:07:47,100 --> 00:07:51,120 Chris Brycki: know cryptocurrency and blockchain have become very popular sort of topics 146 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,660 Chris Brycki: to talk about. Now, this was a real life user 147 00:07:54,660 --> 00:07:57,720 Chris Brycki: case that the ASX identified that could actually improve a 148 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,920 Chris Brycki: process by using blockchain technology. So they invested a lot 149 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:06,930 Chris Brycki: of resources into trying to build a blockchain version of 150 00:08:06,990 --> 00:08:11,369 Chris Brycki: this register, which ultimately has not been successful. And I 151 00:08:11,370 --> 00:08:14,160 Chris Brycki: think it's been in the news recently that they've writing 152 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,470 Chris Brycki: off something like a quarter of a billion dollars from 153 00:08:16,470 --> 00:08:20,580 Chris Brycki: that project, and they're going to have to rethink what 154 00:08:20,580 --> 00:08:21,061 Chris Brycki: they're going to do there. 155 00:08:21,061 --> 00:08:25,410 Sean Aylmer: So has ASX more or less got a monopoly on that, as a 156 00:08:25,410 --> 00:08:26,100 Sean Aylmer: clearing house? 157 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,100 Chris Brycki: Compared to other markets, yeah, they do have a lot 158 00:08:29,100 --> 00:08:31,710 Chris Brycki: of market power in Australia. So in other exchanges in 159 00:08:31,710 --> 00:08:34,559 Chris Brycki: the world, the power is really shared between a lot 160 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,620 Chris Brycki: of different exchanges. The US is a good example where 161 00:08:37,620 --> 00:08:40,620 Chris Brycki: you've got a whole bunch of different exchanges competing for 162 00:08:40,620 --> 00:08:45,059 Chris Brycki: volumes, competing for listings. In Australia, the majority is going 163 00:08:45,059 --> 00:08:49,559 Chris Brycki: via the ASX. There are some smaller competitors, but realistically 164 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:51,600 Chris Brycki: they have a pretty good stranglehold over that. 165 00:08:52,410 --> 00:08:54,390 Sean Aylmer: So I'm going to get it wrong, but I think 166 00:08:54,390 --> 00:08:57,600 Sean Aylmer: the Reserve Bank and perhaps ASIC have been slightly critical 167 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,800 Sean Aylmer: of the ASX and the fact that the technology hasn't improved. 168 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,820 Sean Aylmer: Is it something that, over time, blockchain might actually play 169 00:09:05,820 --> 00:09:09,690 Sean Aylmer: a role in improving that? And ultimately, it should be 170 00:09:09,690 --> 00:09:13,230 Sean Aylmer: about the investors getting a better service. And I figure 171 00:09:13,230 --> 00:09:15,120 Sean Aylmer: kind of if we can push it forward from what 172 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,190 Sean Aylmer: the ASX is doing, be that by the ASX or 173 00:09:17,190 --> 00:09:19,319 Sean Aylmer: others, we may end up in a better place. 174 00:09:19,650 --> 00:09:22,349 Chris Brycki: That's right. So I think there's a view, clearly by 175 00:09:22,350 --> 00:09:25,199 Chris Brycki: the regulator and probably from a lot of market participants, 176 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,840 Chris Brycki: that this was a project that could really benefit end 177 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,870 Chris Brycki: consumers because if you could create a blockchain version of 178 00:09:30,870 --> 00:09:35,400 Chris Brycki: this, it could further reduce the administration costs involved in 179 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,729 Chris Brycki: this register, and therefore, those costs could then be passed 180 00:09:38,730 --> 00:09:41,850 Chris Brycki: on to consumers. So from reading a lot of articles 181 00:09:41,850 --> 00:09:44,969 Chris Brycki: about this, there is some level of cynicism around how 182 00:09:44,970 --> 00:09:48,600 Chris Brycki: motivated the ASX was to actually deliver a successful project 183 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:52,199 Chris Brycki: here, because as the monopoly that benefits from all of 184 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,920 Chris Brycki: the trades and transactions going through your exchange, how motivated 185 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,290 Chris Brycki: really are you to make things more efficient and reduce 186 00:09:58,290 --> 00:10:01,950 Chris Brycki: costs? I think that's a question that's going to continue 187 00:10:01,950 --> 00:10:03,150 Chris Brycki: to be out there, and it might be one that 188 00:10:03,210 --> 00:10:07,830 Chris Brycki: the regulator looks into further. But theoretically at least, yes, 189 00:10:07,830 --> 00:10:10,500 Chris Brycki: I think there is an opportunity to use these new 190 00:10:10,500 --> 00:10:13,620 Chris Brycki: technologies to manage some of these processes in a more 191 00:10:13,620 --> 00:10:17,400 Chris Brycki: efficient way. Maybe ASX got its execution wrong, maybe the 192 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:19,559 Chris Brycki: timing was just too early. I think a lot of 193 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:22,350 Chris Brycki: that will be unpacked and discovered over the next little 194 00:10:22,350 --> 00:10:25,950 Chris Brycki: while. But yeah, the cost that I mentioned of, let's 195 00:10:25,950 --> 00:10:30,390 Chris Brycki: say, 0. 1 or 0. 2% for an individual investor is 196 00:10:30,390 --> 00:10:32,730 Chris Brycki: not that large, but when you multiply it by all 197 00:10:32,730 --> 00:10:34,709 Chris Brycki: of the trades and all of the volumes that are 198 00:10:34,710 --> 00:10:38,309 Chris Brycki: going through the ASX, is a large number overall. And 199 00:10:38,309 --> 00:10:41,370 Chris Brycki: I think there is certainly an opportunity to keep on 200 00:10:41,370 --> 00:10:44,280 Chris Brycki: passing on lower costs to the end investors in Australia. 201 00:10:44,610 --> 00:10:46,650 Sean Aylmer: Chris, I can't let you go without asking at least 202 00:10:46,650 --> 00:10:49,530 Sean Aylmer: about the market. I mean, the last few sessions have 203 00:10:49,530 --> 00:10:51,120 Sean Aylmer: been a bit quieter, but it's actually had a pretty 204 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:52,470 Sean Aylmer: good run the last few weeks? 205 00:10:53,220 --> 00:10:55,679 Chris Brycki: Yeah, I mean, the last time we spoke, the market 206 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:57,900 Chris Brycki: was probably very shaky and there was a lot of 207 00:10:57,900 --> 00:11:02,010 Chris Brycki: negativity out there. What's interesting is that, particularly, the Australian 208 00:11:02,010 --> 00:11:04,709 Chris Brycki: market has done pretty well this year. You've seen all 209 00:11:04,710 --> 00:11:07,140 Chris Brycki: of the negative headlines around the world of tech shares 210 00:11:07,140 --> 00:11:10,589 Chris Brycki: crashing and all of the job layoffs, but the Australian 211 00:11:10,590 --> 00:11:14,370 Chris Brycki: market is back up at 7, 200 or so. That's not 212 00:11:14,370 --> 00:11:16,800 Chris Brycki: too far from its all time highs. The banks are 213 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,829 Chris Brycki: doing really well at the moment. They're benefiting from higher 214 00:11:19,830 --> 00:11:22,589 Chris Brycki: interest rates and higher interest margins. The resource companies are 215 00:11:22,590 --> 00:11:26,040 Chris Brycki: doing well because commodity prices are up. So actually, our 216 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,890 Chris Brycki: market is doing very well compared to others around the 217 00:11:28,890 --> 00:11:30,960 Chris Brycki: world, and it's a bit of a change from the 218 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:34,080 Chris Brycki: last few years where tech and biotech was sort of 219 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:38,370 Chris Brycki: leading the charge. Banks and resources are taking the lead 220 00:11:38,370 --> 00:11:41,340 Chris Brycki: globally and that's helping our market. So I think when 221 00:11:41,340 --> 00:11:43,140 Chris Brycki: investors look at their returns at the end of the 222 00:11:43,170 --> 00:11:47,250 Chris Brycki: year, provided they were diversified across different sectors and weren't 223 00:11:47,250 --> 00:11:52,590 Chris Brycki: trying to pick the latest technology stock or cryptocurrency, they 224 00:11:52,590 --> 00:11:55,109 Chris Brycki: may see that their portfolio is only down a little 225 00:11:55,110 --> 00:11:59,040 Chris Brycki: bit, which is actually pretty amazing in the overall context. 226 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:01,530 Chris Brycki: Because when you look at it from a global sense, 227 00:12:01,530 --> 00:12:04,140 Chris Brycki: this was the worst year in a hundred years for 228 00:12:04,140 --> 00:12:07,500 Chris Brycki: a balanced portfolio. And by that I mean a portfolio 229 00:12:07,500 --> 00:12:11,010 Chris Brycki: split between shares and bonds. Now, in the US, both 230 00:12:11,010 --> 00:12:14,880 Chris Brycki: shares and bonds are down over 10% this year, which 231 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:17,310 Chris Brycki: is the first time that's happened in a hundred years. 232 00:12:17,460 --> 00:12:20,790 Chris Brycki: So by all measures, it was a pretty horrendous year 233 00:12:20,790 --> 00:12:23,370 Chris Brycki: for investors, but a lot of Aussie investors are actually 234 00:12:23,370 --> 00:12:24,420 Chris Brycki: doing not too bad at all. 235 00:12:24,809 --> 00:12:26,580 Sean Aylmer: Chris, thank you for talking to Fear and Greed. 236 00:12:26,940 --> 00:12:28,350 Chris Brycki: My pleasure. Thanks for having me back. 237 00:12:28,710 --> 00:12:31,920 Sean Aylmer: That was Chris Brycki, CEO and founder of Stockspot. This 238 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,040 Sean Aylmer: is the Fear and Greed daily interview. Remember, you should get professional 239 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,429 Sean Aylmer: advice before making any investment decisions. Join us every morning 240 00:12:38,429 --> 00:12:40,440 Sean Aylmer: for the full episode of Fear and Greed, Australia's most 241 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,530 Sean Aylmer: popular business podcast. I'm Sean Aylmer. Enjoy your day.