Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.
17 June 2025
Recently trending
John Egan, Egan Associates: "My heartiest congratulations. Your panel of contributors is very impressive and keep your readers fully informed."
Eleanor Dartnall, AFA Adviser of the Year, 2014: "Our clients love your newsletter. Your articles are avidly read by advisers and they learn a great deal."
Reader: "Carry on as you are - well done. The average investor/SMSF trustee needs all the help they can get."
Reader: "I subscribe to two newsletters. This is my first read of the week. Thank you. Excellent and please keep up the good work!"
Jonathan Hoyle, CEO, Stanford Brown: "A fabulous publication. The only must-read weekly publication for the Australian wealth management industry."
Reader: "Great resource. Cuffelinks is STILL the one and only weekly newsletter I regularly read."
David Goldschmidt, Chartered Accountant: "I find this a really excellent newsletter. The best I get. Keep up the good work!"
Reader: "An island of professionalism in an ocean of shallow self-interest. Well done!"
Reader: " Finding a truly independent and interesting read has been magical for me. Please keep it up and don't change!"
Reader: "Congratulations on a great focussed news source. Australia has a dearth of good quality unbiased financial and wealth management news."
Reader: "The BEST in the game because of diversity and not aligned to financial products. Stands above all the noise."
Professor Robert Deutsch: "This has got to be the best set of articles on economic and financial matters. Always something worthwhile reading in Firstlinks. Thankyou"
Steve: "The best that comes into our world each week. This is the only one that is never, ever canned before fully being reviewed by yours truly."
Reader: "Love it, just keep doing what you are doing. It is the right length too, any longer and it might become a bit overwhelming."
Ian Kelly, CFP, BTACS Financial Services: "Probably the best source of commentary and information I have seen over the past 20 years."
Reader: "Keep it up - the independence is refreshing and is demonstrated by the variety of well credentialed commentators."
Ian Silk, CEO, AustralianSuper: "It has become part of my required reading: quality thinking, and (mercifully) to the point."
Rob Henshaw: "When I open my computer each day it's the first link I click - a really great read."
Reader: "Best innovation I have seen whilst an investor for 25 years. The writers are brilliant. A great publication which I look forward to."
Andrew Buchan, Partner, HLB Mann Judd: "I have told you a thousand times it's the best newsletter."
Reader: "It's excellent so please don't pollute the content with boring mainstream financial 'waffle' and adverts for stuff we don't want!"
Don Stammer, leading Australian economist: "Congratulations to all associated. It deserves the good following it has."
Australian Investors Association: "Australia's foremost independent financial newsletter for professionals and self-directed investors."
Noel Whittaker, author and financial adviser: "A fabulous weekly newsletter that is packed full of independent financial advice."
John Pearce, Chief Investment Officer, Unisuper: "Out of the (many many) investmentrelated emails I get, Cuffelinks is one that I always open."
Reader: "I can quickly sort the items that I am interested in, then research them more fully. It is also a regular reminder that I need to do this."
Reader: "Is one of very few places an investor can go and not have product rammed down their throat. Love your work!"
Scott Pape, author of The Barefoot Investor: "I'm an avid reader of Cuffelinks. Thanks for the wonderful resource you have here, it really is first class."
This wide-ranging interview with Pilar Gomez-Bravo, Director of Fixed Income at MFS Investment Management, covers the role of active management, the low rate environment, portfolio creation and asset class correlations.
A reader responded with detailed comments on the need for board members and the Chair to have relevant expertise in the company's industry. Please join the debate.
Bernard Salt's smashed avocados are now part of our lexicon, even if the way we are using it was not his original meaning. Whatever, lots of expenses such as concert tickets add up significantly with compounding over time.
The 2018 Budget features cuts to personal income taxes and changes to retirement income policies. There's plenty of money on infrastructure to boost jobs and ease congestion.
The 2018 Budget has opened the possibility that the Pension Loans Scheme will become a more popular part of retirement income planning.
The characteristic tone of the Royal Commission was set on the first day focus on financial advice, and no witness has been able to defend commissions to advisers and the vertical integration model.
The $3m super tax could be put down to the Government needing money and the wealthy being easy targets. It’s deeper than that though and this looks at the factors behind the policy and why more taxes on the wealthy are coming.
There is an alternative, simpler approach which could be used to mitigate some of the difficulties that the proposed super tax has for holders of large assets such as properties, businesses and farms in SMSFs.
Here's a detailed look at how current valuations and profit forecasts for the S&P 500 stack up versus history. The answer? Both seem excessive, making the market vulnerable to a correction or worse.
A recent ruling could change the tax payable by beneficiaries of family trusts. If the ATO has previously demanded extra payments on unpaid present entitlements in your family group, you should watch this space.
Subdividing can offer a lucrative first step into property development. Yet it comes with legal, planning and unexpected tax considerations that should be understood from an early stage to avoid surprises.
Though it may feel like this time is different, markets have shown resilience throughout history when confronted by wars, pandemics and other crises. In many cases, the best course of action has been none at all.
China has always managed its affairs in a very different way to Western countries and empires. For those concerned about China's rise as a global power, the big question is whether this approach could change.