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Ashley Owen

Australia’s bounty: is it just diversified luck?

Increases in commodity prices have fuelled global inflation while benefiting commodities exporters like Australia. Oftentimes, booms lead to busts and investors need to get the timing right on pricing cycles to be successful.

The impacts of military and geopolitical crises on share markets

The war in Ukraine is a humanitarian crisis, but what normally happens in share markets when conflicts hit and what is the impact of who wins and loses? Here are likely outcomes but the role of China remains uncertain.

If rising inequality leads to social unrest, we all suffer

Feeling financially stressed? The entry level for the world's richest 1% is $1.5 million including the family home. If this is not enough to fund a ‘comfortable’ lifestyle, consider that 99% of people have less.

House prices surge but falls are common and coming

We tend to forget that house prices often fall. Direct lending controls are more effective than rate rises because macroprudential limits affect the volume of money for housing leaving business rates untouched.

Longest positive run for Australian shares since WWII

The long current positive run for the Australian stock market is unusual but not a warning of imminent demise. Previous long positive runs were not all followed by corrections but this one may end this month.

How inflation impacts different types of investments

A comprehensive study of the impact of inflation on returns from different assets over the past 120 years. The high returns in recent years are due to low inflation and falling rates but this ‘sweet spot’ is ending.

Latest Updates

3 ways to fix Australia’s affordability crisis

Our cost-of-living pressures go beyond the RBA: surging house prices, excessive migration, and expanding government programs, including the NDIS, are fuelling inflation, demanding bold, structural solutions.

Superannuation

The Division 296 tax is still a quasi-wealth tax

The latest draft legislation may be an improvement but it still has the whiff of a wealth tax about it. The question remains whether a golden opportunity for simpler and fairer super tax reform has been missed.

Superannuation

Is it really ‘your’ super fund?

Your super isn’t a bank account you own; it’s a trust you merely benefit from. So why would the Division 296 tax you personally on assets, income and gains you legally don’t own?

Shares

Inflation is the biggest destroyer of wealth

Inflation consistently undermines wealth, even in low-inflation environments. Whether or not it returns to target, investors must protect portfolios from its compounding impact on future living standards.

Shares

Picking the next sector winner

Global equity markets have experienced stellar returns in 2024 and 2025 led, in large part, by the boom in AI. Which sector could be the next star in global markets? This names three future winners.

Infrastructure

What investors should expect when investing in infrastructure: yield

The case for listed infrastructure is built on stable earnings and cash flows, which have sustained 4% dividend yields across cycles and supported consistent, inflation-linked long-term returns.

Investment strategies

Valuing AI: Extreme bubble, new golden era, or both

The US stock market sits in prolonged bubble territory, driven by AI enthusiasm. History suggests eventual mean reversion, reminding investors to weigh potential risks against current market optimism.

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