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David Bell

Grattan and the fuss about Chile’s pensions

A suggestion from the Grattan Institute that Australia's superannuation system could use Chile's default fund auction method to create competition between funds and reduce fees has generated a lot of media attention.

Stock market winners versus losers

In 1993, researchers in the US studied the phenomenon of winning stocks continuing to outperform losing stocks. Using both long and short positions one could theoretically outperform the market on a regular basis.

Making sense of performance statistics

Fund managers often quote statistics to explain their performance, but what do they really mean, and how can we make useful comparisons?

No easy way to make money

History has shown that there are many investment frauds and schemes out there intent on parting investors with their savings. This is a reminder to be wary of things that look too good to be true – because they probably are.

‘Outcome engines’ should be the heart of your business

There is opportunity within the financial services industry for super funds and wealth managers to develop quality outcome engines to gain market advantage and service clients more effectively. But it’ll take time and money.

You have an aversion to what? Is it risk or ambiguity?

We may already know how risk averse we are when it comes to investing, but how much of this is affected by ambiguity aversion. A better understanding of financial products could improve the investment choices we make.

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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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