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Risk tolerance basically reflects the ability of an investor to observe the variability between the expected outcome and observed outcome. Risk tolerance plays a vital role in investment planning, and a better understanding of risk provide investors with a psychological calmness in the event of extreme volatility in the market.
In the recent past, the absolute return approach of Investing has turned out to be one of the fastest-growing investment strategies worldwide. A lot of financial advisors talk about such investments providing absolute returns. So, what exactly are the “Absolute Returns” and are they are promising? What is meant by Absolute return? Absolute return computes the increase or decrease, in an asset over a period of time, as a proportion of the original investment amount. The focus here is only on that specific asset or portfolio and not related market events. Absolute returns only consider the price movement for any specified time period. Absolute return, reckons an investment’s performance without considering the expanse of time for which investment was committed. Absolute returns can be computed for a quarter, semi- annual, annual period, 3-year duration or more. Absolute Returns are independent of Market movements and thus do not draw relative comparisons. It is one of the most commonly used investment performance metric in Hedge Funds and Mutual Funds. How to compute Absolute return? Suppose an investor Mr. Rich, invested AUD 50,000 5 years back, and the current value of his investment is AUD 75,000. The Absolute return on Mr. Rich’s investment would be 50 %, calculated using- Copyright © 2021 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd Copyright © 2021 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd So, Copyright © 2021 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd Absolute returns are just returns from point of time to other. The notion of an 'absolute return' seems very attractive to get investors’ attention as it ignores the relative market movement and promises an appreciation with zero correlation to markets. Anyhow, Absolute Return technique of computing investment yields is an apt way of calculating return on investment, predominantly in the early stages. There are numerous other types of return metrics an investor can look for later on. Major 4 types mattering most to investors being – Absolute Return, Relative Return, Total Return & CAGR. What is the difference between Absolute Return, Relative Return, Total Return & CAGR? Absolute return refers to the gain/ loss in a single investment asset/ portfolio but to comprehend how their investments are acting relative to various market yardsticks, relative return is taken into consideration. Relative return is the excess or deficit an asset achieves over a timeframe matched to a market index. Benchmark Return – Absolute return, gives the Relative return also called sometimes as alpha. Example, if S&P index gives a 10% return during a given period and one’s investment portfolio gives an absolute return of 12% then relative return on investment is positive/ excess 2%. Total returns take into account the effect of intermittent incomes as well as dividends. For example, in an equity investment of AUD 200 having current value AUD 240, the company also declares a dividend of AUD 10 during the year. Total returns will take into account this $10 dividend too. Thus, Total returns on the investment of AUD 200 now will be 25.00% = {(240+10-200)/200} x 100 Absolute and Total returns are easy to calculate as performance metrics, but the real challenge is when comparisons are drawn based on time period of return. Here comes in CAGR, it takes into account the term of the investment too, thus giving a more correct and comparable picture. It is computed as: CAGR (%) = Absolute Return / Investment period (equated in years) Consider for example, two investment options: One where investor earns absolute returns of 10% in 24 months and another where investor earns 5% absolute returns in 9-month duration. So, CAGR would be- For option one: CAGR = 5.00% i.e. 10%/2 (24 months/12 months is equals to 2 years) For option two: CAGR = 6.66% i.e. 5%/0.75 (9 months/12 months is equals to 0.75 years) What’s wrong with just measuring investment performance using Absolute Returns? Absolute returns will only tell an investor how much his/her investments grew by; they do not tell anything about the speed at which investments grew. When people talk about their real estate investments and say, “I bought that house for X in the year 2004. It’s worth 4X today! It has quadrupled in 17 years.” This is an application of absolute return. The drawback here is that it takes into account only the capital appreciation and doesn’t draw comparison with options having different time horizons. Investors can rely on this measure of investment performance only if they are looking for higher returns, without bothering how fast they were generated. Absolute return also doesn’t convey much about an investment compared to relative markets. Then, why do Hedge Fund/ Mutual Fund Managers choose an Investment strategy based on Absolute returns? Absolute returns should be used at times when investors are willing to shoulder some risk in exchange for a prospective to earn excess returns. This is irrespective of the timeframe and Fund administrators who measure portfolio performance in relation of an absolute return typically aim to develop a portfolio that is spread across asset categories, topography, and economic phases. They are looking for below mentioned points in their portfolios- Positive returns- An absolute returns approach of investment targets at producing positive returns at all costs, irrespective of the upside & downside market movements. Independent of yardsticks- The returns are in absolute terms and not in comparison to a benchmark yield or a market index. Diversification of portfolio- With the intention of distribution of risk, among different investment options producing positive returns in diverse ways a mixed bag of absolute return assets give a diversified investment portfolio. Less volatility- The total risk of investment is spread across the different asset held in such a portfolio. Ensuring less overall volatility in collective returns. Actively adjustable to market movements– Usually, investments look for positive returns with zero market correlation. Market shares a negative correlation with absolute return investments and vice versa. In any investment atmosphere, there are varied investment strategies and goals. Absolute return investment strategies are looking to avoid systemic risks using unconventional assets and derivatives, short selling, arbitrage and leverage. It is appropriate for investors who are prepared to bear risk for short and long-term gains.
Condition in which potential loss from the risk is not enough to spend money on it to avoid the risk. Such cases emerge when the risk is either too less or very unlikely to occur.
What is the Dark Web? The dark web is one such portion of the World Wide Web which is not accessible by regular search engines. The dark web is considered a hotbed for criminal activities, and it is much more than that. Various websites exist on an encrypted network inside the dark web. Standard web browsers and programs cannot find these websites. Once inside the dark web, different sites and pages can be accessed like one does on the web. Scientists believe that the internet we see is only 4% of the entire ocean of the web, meaning the 96% consists of the "Deep and Dark Web". The user interface used in the dark web is usually internet-based, but it utilises special software which is not part of the standard ones. There are dozens of web browsers to surf the internet, but they all work in the same way. These standard browsers use ports and protocols to request, transfer and view data on the Internet. The website you access may look familiar, but as you enter, it may be illegal or something familiar but otherwise not monitored by anyone else. Therefore, the deep web and the dark web are famous for being anonymous. Also read: Cyber Espionage Campaign: Strings that tie China, Australia and the US How to access dark web browser? In order to access a few areas which are restricted, the user may need a password and a process to follow. A special software called TOR (The Onion Router) or the Freenet has these non-standard connections. These browsers are unlike standard internet browsers and have a process to access. They allow the users to browse around the dark web and are focused on keeping the user identity anonymous. If hacked or accessed, the regular web browser can easily provide user information such as who the user is and whereabouts. Though the dark web is providing 100% anonymity, federal agencies have been successful in tracking down criminal activities on the dark web. It is often said that the person you are talking to on the dark web could either be an FBI agent or a criminal. Image: Kalkine What happens inside the world of the dark web? The dark web is famous for allowing sinister activities, but many users go on the dark web to access information which otherwise may not be accessible on standard internet. Such as users from extremely oppressive governments who cut access to the world for their citizens. Unfortunately, such confidential environments also provide open platforms to criminals, terrorists and other such individuals involved in illegal activities. Hence, experts advise users to not access the dark web even out of curiosity as it is a lawless environment. There have been many incidents where innocent, curious users were trapped and forced to get involved in criminal activities or their digital devices hacked and compromised without their knowledge. A study conducted by a University of Surrey researcher Dr Michael McGuires in 2019, Into the Web of Profit, shows that the dark web has become worse in recent times. Since 2016 of all the listings on the dark web suggested, 60% could harm companies. Everything illegal and criminal can be found on the dark web, it also has other legitimate options such as chess clubs or book clubs, but because of the anonymity, the user will not know whom he/she is interacting with. Inside the dark web, anonymity and lawless nature make the crimes which exist otherwise in our society hard to trace. The payment procedure inside the dark web is also different from the World Wide Web. Most often, Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrency are used for the transactions. RELATED READ: Knock Knock! Cybercriminal at Your Doorstep What’s the difference between the deep web and dark web? The dark web is part of the entire deep web and is hidden from regular browsing access. Most people confuse the deep web and the dark web as one entity. It is not. The deep web content includes anything hidden and restricted behind the security wall such as content which otherwise requires paywall or sign-in or blocked by the author. Content which cannot be easily accessible on regular internet such as medical records, membership websites, paid content are available on the deep web; hence it is also called Invisible Web. No one really knows the total size of the internet, but the experts believe that the standard World Wide Web consists of only 4% internet, the deep web consists of 90% and dark web consists of 6% of the entire internet. ALSO READ: Technology has changed the way we work amid the COVID-19 crisis: A look at in-demand technologies Image: Kalkine Also read: It happens again, NZX being bullied by Cyber-attackers- Down for the fourth day What kind of risk companies face due to the dark web? The Into the Web of Profit report listed below threats various organisations around the world are facing, especially the ones who have weak or insufficient cybersecurity measures. Malware attacks Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks Botnets Trojan, keyloggers, exploits Espionage Credentials access Phishing Refunds Customer data Operational data Financial data Intellectual property/ trade secrets Also read: Cybersecurity and the Requirement of a Resilient Environment in Australia Are there advantages and disadvantages to the dark web? The dark web provides complete anonymity, the users get complete privacy to perform any activity, be it illegal or legal. Many countries in the world still have authoritarian regimes offering no civil rights to their people. To such oppressed lot, the dark web provides an opportunity to access news, information, data and also express their views. The dark web is also a perfect place for law agencies to map criminal activities while being undercover. It is also easy to commit gruesome crimes through the dark web as it is complicated and lawless. Criminals can easily use the dark web to compromise someone's privacy, steal data or private information or even hire someone to commit murder. Do internet users need to be concerned about the dark web? The simple answer is no unless the user is using the dark web. Study says that most young people visit the dark web out of curiosity. They do not want to indulge in any criminal activity but want to see how the hidden and secret world of the dark web operates. And that is where the possibility of the electronic device IP address getting hacked by other criminals to perform their criminal activities lies. The earliest use of darknet dates back to the year 2000. Freenet was created at the University of Edinburgh based on a student research paper. Ian Clark wrote the paper in 1999 on the possibility of such an encrypted internet base. Freenet was created to oppose censorship and provide a platform for free speech. The most powerful dark web is TOR, and it was created by the United States government to have a secure encrypted communication in case of emergency and complete disaster. Even today, many law agencies are secretly active inside the world of the dark web to gain access in the criminal world and stay one step ahead.
What is data warehousing? Data warehousing is defined as the method of gathering & handling data from different sources to get meaningful output and insights. Data warehousing is central to the BI system and is built for data analysis and reporting. Source: © nfo40555 | Megapixl.com In simple terms, a data warehouse is a large collection of data utilized by businesses to make investment decisions. What are the characteristics of data warehousing? Data warehouse has supported businesses in making informed decisions efficiently. Some of its key features are highlighted below: The data in a data warehouse is structured for easy access, and there is high-speed query performance. The end users generally look for high speed and faster response time – two features present in data warehousing. Large amount of historical data is used. Data warehouse provides a large amount of data for a particular query. The data load comprises various sources & transformations. What are the benefits of data warehousing? The Companies which used data warehousing for analytics and business intelligence found several advantages. Below are some of them: Better Data: When data sources are linked to a data warehouse, the Company can collect consistent and relevant data from the source. Also, the user would not have to worry about the consistency and accessibility of the data. Thus, it ensures data quality and integrity for sound decision making. Faster decisions: Through data warehousing, it is possible to make quicker decisions as the data available is in a consistent format. It offers analytical power and a comprehensive dataset to base decisions on tough truths. Thus, the people involved in decision making do not have to rely on hunches, incomplete data, and poor quality data. It also reduces the risk of delivering slow and inaccurate data. How does a data warehouse work? A data warehouse is like a central repository where the data comes from various sources. The data streams into the data warehouse from the transactional system and other relational databases. These data could either be structured, semi-structured or unstructured. These data get processed, altered, and consumed in a way that the end-user can gain access to the processed data in the data warehouse via business intelligence (BI) devices, SQL clients and spreadsheets. A data warehouse merges the data that comes from various sources into a complete database. The biggest advantage of this merged data is that the Company can analyze the data more holistically. It also makes the process of data mining smooth. Copyright © 2021 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd. Component of a data warehouse A data warehouse can be divided into four components. These are: Load Manager Load Manager, also known as the front component, does operations related to the mining and loading the data into a data warehouse. Load manager transforms the data for entering into Data warehouse. Warehouse Manager The warehouse manager manages the data within the data warehouse. It analyses data to confirm that the data in the data warehouse is steady. It also conducts operations such as the creation of indexes and views, generation of denormalization and aggregations, modifying and integrating the source data. Query Manager Query Manager is a backend component that does operations concerning the supervision of user queries. End-User access tools End-User access tools comprise data reporting, query tools, application development tools, EIS tools, data mining tools, and OLAP tools. Roles of Data Warehouse Tools and Utilities The tools and utilities in a data warehouse are used for: Data extraction: The data extraction process involves gathering data from heterogeneous sources. Data cleaning: Data cleaning consists of searching for any error in the data. Data transformation: Data transformation process involves changing the data into a data warehouse setup. Data loading: This process involves data sorting, recapping, consolidating, verifying integrity. Refreshing: This process requires revising data sources to the warehouse. Application of data warehouse Data warehouse plays a considerable role across multiple sectors. Some of the sectors it caters to are highlighted below. Aviation sector In the aviation sector, a data warehouse’s role can be seen in crew assignment, route profitability analysis, any promotional activity. Banking Industry In the banking sector, the focus is on risk management, policy reversal, customer data analysis, market trends, government rules and regulations and making financial decision. Through a data warehouse, banks can manage the resources available on the deck effectively. Banks also take the help of a data warehouse to do market research, analyze the products they offer, develop marketing programs. Retail industry Retailers act as an intermediary between the producers and the customers. Hence, these retailers use a data warehouse to maintain the records of both producers as well as the customer to maintain their existence in the market. Data warehouses help track inventory, advertisement promotions, tracking customer buying trends and many more. Healthcare industry In the healthcare industry, a data warehouse is used to predict the outcome of any test and taking relevant action accordingly. Data warehouses help them to generate patient treatment report, offer medical services, track the medicine inventory. Many patients visiting hospital have health insurance. Through a data warehouse, hospitals maintain the list of insurance providers. Investment and insurance sector In the insurance and investment sector, the role of data warehouse becomes important in tracking the data pattern, customer trend and market movement. Services sector In the services sector, a data warehouse is used for maintaining financial records, studying the revenue pattern, customer profiling, resource management and human resource management. Telecom The telecom sector uses a data warehouse in the promotion of its offerings, making sales decision, distribution decision, features to include in case they decide to launch a new product based on the customer requirement. Hospitality The hospitality sector involves hotel and restaurant services, car rental services etc. In this sector, the companies use a data warehouse to study the customer feedback on the various services offered and accordingly design and evaluate their advertising and promotion campaigns.