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3 September 2025
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There is a significant leadership opportunity for super funds to manage real return risk, where the inflation risk represents a potential erosion of retirement outcomes.
The biggest threat to a retirement portfolio is loss of value in real terms. The superannuation industry should focus on real returns and real volatility before inflation strikes again.
Real returns, which are simply the return relative to inflation, measure the growth in purchasing power of a portfolio of assets. So why does almost everyone use nominal returns and mislead investors?
Most financial plans focus on the amount of money required for a comfortable retirement, but knowing the variability of that outcome might change your mind on how much is enough.
The ideal outcome approaching retirement is to have the ability to extend a working career as a conscious choice, or if financially and personally appropriate, make the farewell speech.
The Stronger Super reforms have significantly raised the profile of lifecycle funds by legitimising their use as a single investment strategy for MySuper products. But are lifecycle funds any better than normal balanced funds?
An explosion in low-skilled migration to Australia has depressed wages, killed productivity, and cut rental vacancy rates to near decades-lows. It’s time both sides of politics addressed the issue.
This AI cycle feels less like a revolution and more like a rerun. Just like fibre in 2000, shale in 2014, and cannabis in 2019, the technology or product is real but the capital cycle will be brutal. Investors beware.
Australian housing’s 50-year boom was driven by falling rates and rising borrowing power — not rent or yield. With those drivers exhausted, future returns must reconcile with economic fundamentals. Are we ready?
Despite mixed ASX results, the market has shown surprising resilience. With rate cuts ahead and economic conditions improving, investors should look beyond short-term noise and position for a potential cyclical upswing.
BWT Trust has moved to bring management in house. Meanwhile, many of the properties it leases to Bunnings have been repriced to materially higher rents. This has removed two of the key 'snags' holding back the stock.
With APRA phasing out bank hybrids from 2027, investors must reassess these complex instruments. A synthetic hybrid strategy may offer similar returns but with greater control and clearer understanding of risks.
The magnitude of founder Jensen Huang’s selldown may seem small, but the signal is hard to ignore. When the person with the clearest insight into the company’s future starts cashing out, it’s worth asking why.