6 February 2026

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Building a lazy ETF portfolio in 2026 Get set for a bumpy 2026 Meg on SMSFs: First glimpse of revised Division 296 tax Ray Dalio on 2025’s real story, Trump, and what’s next 10 fearless forecasts for 2026

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Home / Author: Ashley Owen

Ashley Owen

The end of six wonderful years for investing

There are enough negative factors in play to suggest great caution with asset allocation in portfolios, as a wonderful run of results for investors came to an end in 2018. Here are four common factors in market collapses.

Ashley Owen
10 January 2019
3

The sorry tale of our big banks

The history of the Big Four banks is littered with bad strategies by overpaid executives, taxpayer-funded rescues and a lack of competition. As the banks clean up the Royal Commission mess, Macquarie has overall done better.

Ashley Owen
23 October 2018
8

Aussie shares: 50 years and we’re finally ahead

It's too easy to look at a long-term chart of rising share prices and be reassured about performance. But adjusted for inflation, many of our largest companies have gone nowhere in half a century.

Ashley Owen
29 August 2018
15

Why dividend yields in Australia are so high

Australian companies have a long and frustrating history of wasting billions of dollars of capital on overseas dreams, and institutional investors should be taking a harder line to protect their capital.

Ashley Owen
2 August 2018
5

Winners and losers in sharemarkets, 2017/18

The Australian market again delivered strong returns in 2017-2018 with big sector differences, but there were large variations in global performance depending on the currency hedging strategy.

Ashley Owen
5 July 2018

Little room for error in equity markets now

Investors are complacent and expect double-digit profit growth to continue for many years, but the market consensus for EPS growth is now in dangerous territory with more downside potential than upside.

Ashley Owen
10 May 2018
2

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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.

James Gruber
4 February 2026
21

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.

Tony Dillon
4 February 2026
9

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?

Jon Kalkman
4 February 2026
10

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.

Ashley Owen
4 February 2026
6

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.

Anna Wu
4 February 2026
2

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.

Jeremy Grantham
4 February 2026

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