Rising interest rates, falling house prices and persistent inflation may have left many Australians feeling pessimistic about the Australian economy, but not AMP Deputy Chief Economist Diana Mousina.
Most people’s experience of artificial intelligence has been the chatbot: ask a question, get an answer. That use is still growing. What is changing—and what matters for Contrarius’ Funds—is the next layer of demand.
Most people’s experience of artificial intelligence has been the chatbot: ask a question, get an answer. That use is still growing. What is changing—and what matters for Contrarius’ Funds—is the next layer of demand.
The Federal Reserve has a new chairman in position. Kevin Warsh recently chaired his first meeting and the message was clear: global markets need to get used to less hand-holding looking forward.
Retiring soon and wondering how to structure your investments? There are a range of strategies you can follow, from maintaining your existing approach to shifting into a new strategy. One approach investors use is known as the 3-bucket strategy.
The SpaceX IPO may go down as one of the defining market events of the decade. Not simply because of its size, or its role in catapulting Elon Musk into the world’s first trillionaire. And not even because it’s trading at a somewhat shocking 2026 EV/EBITDA ratio of 222x.
For decades, the “60/40 portfolio” felt like the smart, set-and-forget way to invest: 60% in shares for growth and 40% in bonds for stability. When shares wobbled, bonds usually rose. Simple. Reliable. It worked through bull markets, mild recessions and falling interest rates.
Underperformance by an actively managed fund in your portfolio is uncomfortable, but it’s not always a sell signal.
Because context matters. Whether a fund is temporarily out of favour, structurally flawed, too expensive, or no longer fit for your portfolio should change your response to underperformance.
ETFs have grown in popularity in the last decade, and beginner investors are often encouraged to consider them. But beginner doesn’t mean foolproof and even investments like ETFs can go wrong when investors don’t know what they are really buying and how best to use them. It’s also worth noting that beginner doesn’t mean that ETFs can’t be part of more sophisticated strategies either.
First the bad news: many Australians in their 20s and 30s feel they are already late to investing. Property prices seem out-of-reach, the cost-of-living pressure is real, and social media can make everyone else’s financial life appear rosier than it really is. For many, the right pathway forward can feel out-of-reach.
Australia’s 2026-27 Federal Budget has dramatically changed the tax conversation in ways few budgets have. In particular, the Government’s plan to replace the 50% CGT discount with cost-base indexation and a 30% minimum tax rate from 1st July 2027 has massive investment implications.
The only certainties in life are death and taxes, as the saying goes. Of course, what can be less certain is exactly how tax is applied to your earnings, particularly those from investments. Depending on the type of investment you have and what type of earnings you receive from it, tax can be affected.
For decades, investors relied on the classic 60/40 portfolio: 60% equities and 40% bonds. That worked well during an era characterised by declining interest rates and relatively stable inflation.
The number of investors proclaiming they’ve made millions from AI infrastructure stocks is on the rise. That’s a dubious data point that’s surely synonymous with taxi drivers sharing the same hot stock picks near the peak of the market.
Newer investors looking for managed investments traded on the ASX may be less familiar with the concept of listed investment vehicles (LIVs). It may even surprise some to know that there was a time where interest in these types of investments far outweighed interest in ETFs, and they offered the only form of tradable access to professionally managed investments for decades.