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14 October 2026
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The Design and Distribution Obligations (DDO) come into effect in two weeks. They will change the way banks promote products, force some small funds to close to new members and push issues into the listed space.
Chris Cuffe has spent four decades selecting fund managers for multi-manager portfolios, and he explains what he looks for and why active management can work, as well as updating his investment lessons.
Investing in unit trusts just before a distribution is paid may see a portion of your capital returned to you in the form of taxable income, which will be a poor outcome for your returns.
Due to its illiquidity and higher risk, private debt as an asset class will not suit all investors. But for a patient investor with a longer-term horizon, private debt funds can provide a good risk/return trade off.
Firstlinks publishes hundreds of articles a year, and Chris Cuffe has selected from the most popular, especially those shining a light on issues the wealth industry must face up to in future.
The journey began as a chat over lunch, and with the acquisition of Cuffelinks (Firstlinks) by Morningstar, the pieces are in place to take the publication to the next level.
From the maths of retirement, estimating spending and picking the right asset allocation to survive a poor decade, here are the questions every retiree – current or future – should be able to answer for themselves.
The US market looks eerily similar to the dot-com era with soaring AI spending and tech giants dominating returns. But one difference separates today’s boom from the dot-com bubble and it could determine what happens next.
Trusts are facing a shake-up, but an overhaul may not be necessary. Families can explore restructuring strategies that preserve succession and the asset protection benefits that have made these structures valuable.
War, inflation and higher rates were expected to derail America. But has the market got it wrong? Three forces are driving the economy beyond expectations, revealing implications for stock prices and portfolio positioning.
Everyone talks about diversifying assets. Far fewer think about diversifying trust. As inflation, debt and market assumptions collide, the question is whether portfolios need greater protection from unexpected outcomes.
Seven months into retirement, I'm still uncovering surprises. This month was spent reflecting on the slow pace of health change, the myth of neatly scheduled part-time work and the unexpected persistence of retirement guilt.
The next chapter of technology may not belong to the companies or business models many expect. As the landscape shifts, some opportunities are emerging in places that remain surprisingly overlooked by global markets.