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David Bassanese

The benefits of low turnover for after-tax outcomes

In Australia, fund manager performance is most often assessed on pre-tax returns. But a low portfolio turnover can potentially provide better after-tax returns relative to a high turnover actively managed fund.

The numbers tell the story for index investing

The empirical evidence in the active v passive investing debate favours index in most asset classes, but there's a role for mixing the techniques if good managers can be identified - although that's not easy.

Shorting and pairs trading using Exchange Traded Products

ETFs now offer a wide range of choices including equities, bonds, sector specific, smart beta, geared, commodities and currencies. This opens alternatives for both investing and trading.

I will survive! Investing amid structural change

Australia's economy has long had to cope with structural change, which hasn't stopped quality companies from generating wealth for investors. But with increasing complexity, picking winners and losers will become harder.

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Retirement

The retirement scorecard: how many of these questions can you answer?

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.

2026 is not 1999

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.

Planning

Taxing time for trusts

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.

Economy

Why the US economy is stronger than you might think

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.

Gold

How much trust is in your portfolio?

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.

Retirement

Retirement in reality - 7 months in

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 new geography of technology leadership

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.

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