You can move the point at least as fast as your eyes and a button press will be faster and more accurate than pinch, and no occlusion. Plus more buttons gives you additional actions for the same onscreen target.
For a pointing device, moving a stylus on a small graphic tablet (in relative mode, i.e. like a mouse, not in absolute mode), in order to position a visible cursor on a target, is both faster and more precise and also much more comfortable than pointing forward with a laser pointer or an equivalent device.
When you are not at a desk, perhaps one can make a pointing device with a stylus that you hold like for writing and you point downwards, but the relative movements of the stylus are used to control a visible cursor that is in front of you, or in any other direction. That would still be much better than a pointing device that forces you to point in the real direction of the target.
Especially when only the relative movements are of interest, it is easy to measure the 3D orientation of a stylus with a combined accelerometer/magnetometer sensor.
If all you wanted was a pointing device to make selections on a 2D gui interface, then the laser pointer form factor would be better. But I’m going to be an old fart and ask why are you doing this in AR then? Just use a screen. I’m more interested in the different human interface possibilities that are opened up by tactile input and 3D visual controls.