Where won't Peter Warnes go? During a recent webinar, the head of Morningstar's equity research division answered viewer questions on topics ranging from massive bank buybacks to lithium and unconventional monetary policy.

Told they could 'ask Peter anything', viewers expressed concern for Australia's oil and gas sector, noting the global transition to renewable energy and shareholder demand for companies to take action.

While commodities like iron ore have had a spectacular year, pushing above US$200 on the back of enormous demand from China, gas prices have suffered, bringing down the share prices of investor favourites like AGL and Origin Energy. Year to date, the AGL share price is down around 50%. According to Warnes, lower wholesale prices are the culprit.

You can catch Peter's full webinar with Mark Lamonica here:

  • 1:00 Reporting season overview
  • 9:15 Private equity, pension funds target infrastructure
  • 15:35 Underperformance of utilities
  • 18:45 Utilities and ESG risk – change won't happen overnight
  • 23:10 AGL strategy, demerger plan
  • 25:20 Oil and gas sector, ESG concern weighs
  • 29:15 Iron ore price
  • 34:15 Lithium and electric vehicles
  • 36:50 Views on Macquarie Bank
  • 39:30 Magellan Financial and risks in big tech
  • 42:30 Flows to passive funds, is there a role for active managers?
  • 46:20 Bank buybacks, credit boom and admissions of mistakes past
  • 50:50 Buybacks bias low-tax shareholders
  • 53:55 Inflation, CPI adjustments, unconventional monetary policy