Investment Articles & Insights

Most investors tend to think of systemic risk as something that arrives with a bang, like a banking crisis, a pandemic, or a war. Increasingly, the more realistic systemic dangers are slower to gauge and harder to price. They are an ominous set of interconnected and interacting stresses that have the potential to degrade the very conditions required for markets to compound at all.

One of the great emerging benefits of AI is that it allows self-directed investors to take better control of their financial destinies. With its fast-improving capabilities, valuable financial advice may be available at your fingertips. Or so the theory goes.

We’re only two months into 2026 and investors have already experienced what feels like a year’s worth of change. It’s this accelerating pace of change that’s already the dominant issue of the year, as markets are being challenged to price in a more uncertain future.

How many times have you heard people talk down AI’s role in the future of humanity? We’ve all heard the feedback: ‘It’s unreliable’, ‘It will never replace humans for anything but low-value jobs,’ and ‘It’s all a flash in the pan.’ But what if these excuses are simply defensive responses because the truth is too earth-shattering to accept: the productivity promise of AI is already real.

Passive investing has reshaped global equity markets over the past decade. Record inflows into low-cost ETFs have led many investors to question whether active management still has a meaningful role.

Following the exchange rate might be popular for those planning future international travel, but those planning their portfolios should not forget currency either. A shift in the exchange rate can mean an instant shift in the value or performance of your portfolio, depending on whether you have hedged any of your international exposures.

There’s a uniquely Australian breed of wealth creator who achieved financial independence before the age of 30 by accumulating a sprawling property portfolio.

Open a financial news app and you’ll be greeted with headlines of quarterly earnings misses, monthly economic data prints, and excitement about a 10-week trading update, with share prices swinging around in response.