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Andrew Macken

5 exciting areas of investment opportunity

Markets have started this year well yet there are still several exciting long-term themes that are underappreciated by global investors. They include alternative assets, luxury goods, AI, and mission-critical financial firms.

Is the market wrong on AI and China?

The conventional academic view is that markets are efficient as they price in all available information effectively. Yet history shows the market can be wildly wrong on stocks, as may be the case with AI and China today.

Five steps to become a better investor

Everyone including investors needs to evolve to get better. Here are five steps to improve your investment toolkit, including thinking probabilistically, running your own race, and measuring yourself objectively.

Reports of tech's death are greatly exaggerated

Many investors have written off the tech sector after last year's bloodbath. But tech is entering a new phase of growth and dominance, fuelled by innovation and AI, and there are compelling ways to play this theme.

5 investment opportunities for a more positive 2023

The market’s myopia of 2022 has depressed valuation multiples on cyclically depressed earnings. The result is that many of the world’s most advantaged businesses can be acquired today at prices that are far below intrinsic value.

Will investors start tuning in to Spotify again?

Spotify shares have fallen around two-thirds from their peak in 2021. Here are four key reasons why Spotify can materially increase its earning power in future years, making the stock significantly undervalued at present.

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Retirement

Why it’s time to ditch the retirement journey

Retirement isn’t a clean financial arc. Income shocks, health costs and family pressures hit at random, exposing the limits of age-based planning and the myth of a predictable “retirement journey".

Financial planning

How much does it really cost to raise a child?

With fertility rates at a record low, many say young people aren’t having kids because they’re too expensive. Turns out, it’s not that simple and there are likely other factors at play.

Exchange traded products

Passive ETF investors may be in for a rude shock

Passive ETFs have become wildly popular just as markets, especially the US, reach extreme valuations. For long-term investors, these ETFs make sense, though if you're investing in them to chase performance, look out below.

Shares

Bank reporting season scorecard November 2025

The Big Four banks shrugged off doomsayers with their recent results, posting low loan losses, solid margins, and rising dividends. It underscores their resilience, but lofty valuations mean it’s time to be selective. 

Investment strategies

The real winners from the AI rush

AI is booming, but like the 19th-century gold rush, the real profits may go to those supplying the tools and energy, not the companies at the centre of the rush.

Economy

Why economic forecasts are rarely right (but we still need them)

Economic experts, including the RBA, get plenty of forecasts wrong, but that doesn't make such forecasts worthless. The key isn't to predict perfectly – it's to understand the range of possibilities and plan accordingly.

Strategy

13 reflections on wealth and philanthropy

Wealth keeps growing, yet few ask “how much is enough?” or what their kids truly need. After 23 years in philanthropy, I’ve seen how unexamined wealth can limit impact, and why Australia needs a stronger giving culture.

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