A veteran investment executive has warned immense grief could come soon for share investors.
Wilson Asset Management chair Geoff Wilson in an investor call on Friday said the last few months of the ASX have looked "very frothy".
"We could be heading for a lot of pain," he said.
"The way that the market has bounced back [since COVID-19]… people are going to realise that buying shares at doubles or triples, that's not normal."
Wilson's company runs a stable of popular active exchange-traded funds (ETFs), such as WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM), WAM Research Limited (ASX: WAX) and WAM Global Ltd (ASX: WGB).
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Newbie day traders are creating volatility
Wilson blamed a flood of "non-sophisticated money" coming into the market during the virus crisis for the current bubble.
The All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has surged almost 33% since the depths of the coronavirus crash in March, even after a slight correction in recent days.
Over the long term, the Australian market has historically gained roughly 10% per year, according to Wilson, so he feels it has to eventually reach that equilibrium.
"The market does have a way of cleansing out excesses… we could be getting close to a bit of a cleansing," he said.
"There is a lot of risk in the market at the moment, definitely."
Tech sector is a worry
Technology sector shares were a particular concern to Wilson, who established his LIC company in 1997.
Examples include fintech Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), which has shot up more than 700% since March, and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), which surged 470% before a 30% adjustment in recent days.
"That has been looking quite bubbly. I've been thinking back to 1999-2000 when we had the 'tech wreck'," he told investors.
"There wasn't a specific event that created the tech wreck… It was just over-evaluations, then heat coming out of the market."
Wilson predicted that, in a similar fashion, there could be a fresh "wake-up call" coming soon for tech investors.
"There could be a reasonable-sized adjustment."
Wilson Asset Management has more than $3 billion under management on behalf of 86,000 retail shareholders, split across 6 LIC ETF products.
