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Graham Hand

Let’s stop calling them ‘bond proxies’

With cash and term deposit rates at all-time lows, and fixed interest bonds not much better, investors are looking for ‘bond proxies’ to deliver more income. But is ‘proxy’ a misnomer, and what are they anyway?

Welcome to Firstlinks Edition 317

In an exclusive from Hamish Douglass, he shares 13 investment lessons he has applied in building the Magellan business. He divides the insights into four topics: finding investments, letting them work for you, temperament and risk.

Did your super do better than this in FY19?

Many super funds and portfolio managers delivered strong results in FY2019, and critics of our default superannuation system should ask whether individuals can match these consistent returns.

Welcome to the Firstlinks Edition 316

If you knew your incoming boss thought something the business does is 'absolutely abhorrent', would you fix it before he arrived? I know I would.

Megan Scott on multitasking in a COO world

The role of Chief Operations Officer is not well understood, but it involves everything from keeping the office running day-to-day to long-term strategic planning, and the ability to multitask is essential.

An easy fix for Dick Smith’s franking problem

Peter Fitzsimons calls franking 'ridiculous' and Dick Smith calls it 'outrageous', but Dick Smith probably receives a significant refund because his Australian share investments are held in a very large SMSF.

Latest Updates

Superannuation

Here's what should replace the $3 million super tax

With Div. 296 looming, is there a smarter way to tax superannuation? This proposes a fairer, income-linked alternative that respects compounding, ensures predictability, and avoids taxing unrealised capital gains. 

Superannuation

Less than 1% of wealthy families will struggle to pay super tax: study

An ANU study has found that families with at least one super balance over $3 million have average wealth exceeding $19 million - suggesting most are well placed to absorb taxes on unrealised capital gains.   

Superannuation

Are SMSFs getting too much of a free ride?

SMSFs have managed to match, or even outperform, larger super funds despite adopting more conservative investment strategies. This looks at how they've done it - and the potential policy implications.  

Property

A developer's take on Australia's housing issues

Stockland’s development chief discusses supply constraints, government initiatives and the impact of Japanese-owned homebuilders on the industry. He also talks of green shoots in a troubled property market.

Economy

Lessons from 100 years of growing US debt

As the US debt ceiling looms, the usual warnings about a potential crash in bond and equity markets have started to appear. Investors can take confidence from history but should keep an eye on two main indicators.

Investment strategies

Investors might be paying too much for familiarity

US mega-cap tech stocks have dominated recent returns - but is familiarity distorting judgement? Like the Monty Hall problem, investing success often comes from switching when it feels hardest to do so.

Latest from Morningstar

A winning investment strategy sitting right under your nose

How does a strategy built around systematically buying-and-holding a basket of the market's biggest losers perform? It turns out pretty well, so why don't more investors do it?

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