If you’ve heard the phrases ‘best of both worlds’, ‘smart indexing’ or ‘intelligent exposure’ in relation to an ETF, it’s highly likely that the ETF uses a smart beta approach to investing.
Private Credit has grown into a major part of Australia's lending market. Building on our previous discussion about manager quality, this article explores what ASIC's surveillance found and the risks investors should weigh.
Within a month or so, what may be the largest listing in stock market history is expected to list on the Nasdaq. Anthropic, the company behind the Claude family of AI models, is heading for public markets at a valuation up to US$2 trillion.
Private Credit has grown into a major part of Australia's lending market. Building on our previous discussion about manager quality, this article explores what ASIC's surveillance found and the risks investors should weigh.
Within a month or so, what may be the largest listing in stock market history is expected to list on the Nasdaq. Anthropic, the company behind the Claude family of AI models, is heading for public markets at a valuation up to US$2 trillion.
Australia is about to experience a major shift in wealth. According to a report by JB Were, by 2034, an estimated $4.9 trillion will be passed down from baby boomers and their parents to the younger generations. Inheritances are expected to have reached $150 billion in 2024, more than double the amount in 2002.
With over 20% of Australians projected to be aged 65 or older by 2030, planning for this intergenerational wealth transfer has never been more important.
I learned a valuable lesson in July 2022, the last year the S&P/ASX 200 index posted a negative return, that starting points matter. I had gone on leave to have my second child in December 2021 as markets were making all-time highs, the cash rate was on the floor (and the RBA was promising to keep it there for years) and a raft of IPOs were hitting the ASX.
2024 was a bumpy ride for global healthcare investors with the sector lagging most economically sensitive sectors.
There were also sector-specific challenges to navigate in the form of margin pressure, workforce shortages, and digital disruption.
But at this juncture, the global healthcare sector’s fundamentals are stronger than ever thanks to a step-change in recent innovation as well as favourable demographic changes. Investors should arguably position themselves for a sector recovery…
We all know the US has been attracting investment capital from all around the world at an unprecedented rate.
What may be more surprising to some investors are the growing global divergences of earnings growth expectations by region, as well as within the US.
Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) are growing in popularity amongst investors seeking greater control over their retirement savings.
While their benefits are significant, the costs—both setup and ongoing—can pose challenges, particularly for smaller funds.
The good news is there are some costs-cutting tips which make SMSFs accessible to a wider portion of the investing population.
In the words of Russell Napier: ‘Financial history is the most important thing to study for anyone seeking to avoid the mistakes of the past.’
So what does financial history suggest may be coming in early 2025? And is a Volmageddon event (read: an extreme volatility event) brewing as a number of experts are warning?
To answer those questions, we’ll focus on the main game in town, the S&P 500, since US stocks continue to drive global markets…
Investing in commercial property funds has been unusually painful for investors in recent years.
Rather than paying out rock-solid distributions and grinding out gradual capital gains each year as investors expected, the headwinds created by rising interest rates and the pandemic severely impacted the asset class.
The trend of Australians taking control of their own superannuation investments has been steadily rising over the years. Despite challenges like sticky inflation and higher-for-longer interest rates, the self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) sector has shown remarkable resilience, surpassing the significant milestone of $1 trillion in assets last year.
Are you happier working in an office or working from home?
This is the question millions of Australian workers have been voting with their feet on in recent years.
It’s fair to say the work from home (WFH) revolution has been one of the biggest social shifts we’ve witnessed in modern history. It’s brought with it profound changes in the way many of us work, as well as workers’ confidence in requesting WFH as an option.
It’s tempting for investors to believe that their personal experience of the world’s emotional state allows them to accurately assess the global zeitgeist.
However, the reality is most investors are only exposed to a miniscule fraction of the global population, and it can be challenging to understand others’ emotions at the best of times. Reading the world’s emotional tea leaves is easier said than done.
Happy new year! We hope it’s a healthy and happy one for you.
While no one knows exactly what’s coming in the year ahead, most investors will be asking themselves similar questions as the new year begins. For example, will 2025 be a repeat of 2024’s US-led market resilience and euphoria? Or will markets follow a different playbook this year which requires investors to make tactical adjustments?
With these questions in mind, it’s time to do our best at crystal ball gazing to help investors make sense of what may be coming in 2025…