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Graham

Royal Commission 2: Goodbye grandfathering, hello fee-for-service

Grandfathering and the implications for commissions has become a major flash point, and the Royal Commission is focussing on problems created when advisers are given the wrong incentives.

Royal Commission 3: A ban on all percentage-based fees?

The Royal Commission is asking whether percentage-based fees offer the wrong incentives and why administration is not a flat fee business. Where might this go in wealth management?

Thanks for the Royal Commission feedback

The Financial Services Royal Commission is discovering behaviour that is far worse than expected, with widespread implications for wealth management. Banks are challenged making the vertical integration model work.

$1 million v $500,000 and accepting a pension

A reader asks whether people can stay off the age pension by reducing the amount of money they live on in retirement but not drawing on their capital.

$1 million is never worth less than $500,000

It's become common to claim there is no incentive to save more than $500,000 because of the loss of age pensions and possibly franking credits. But these arguments overlook the way super is supposed to operate.

Cuffelinks Special 250th Edition 2018

Special Edition 250 includes over 30 market experts sharing a mistake that made them better investors. Since Edition 1 of Cuffelinks, we have focussed on independent expert insights from high-profile finance professionals to deliver useful ideas to our community, now over 35,000 strong.

Latest Updates

Superannuation

Indexation implications – key changes to 2026/27 super thresholds

Stay on top of the latest changes to superannuation rates and thresholds for 2026, including increases to transfer balance cap, concessional contributions cap, and non-concessional contributions cap.

Economy

Central banks need higher inflation targets

In a shift away from solely targeting low inflation, central banks are considering raising inflation targets to combat economic challenges, but face potential drawbacks and conflicts in policy implementation.

Exchange traded products

The missing 30%: how LIC returns are understated, and why it matters

The perceived underperformance of LICs compared to ETFs is due to existing comparison data excluding crucial information, highlighting the need for proper assessment and transparent reporting.

Latest from Morningstar

Alpha isn’t dead. You’ve just been measuring it wrong

New research shows smarter portfolio construction—not new factors—is the real edge in the hunt for alpha. However, finding it requires a fundamentally different mindset.

Investment strategies

The diversification illusion: why 'balanced' portfolios may be exposed

Many 'diversified' portfolios are increasingly driven by the same narrow set of forces. As concentration builds beneath the surface, understanding how portfolios behave - not just how they’re constructed - is critical for investors.

Investment strategies

The case for staying the course in credit

Rising oil prices and inflation pushed Australian yields higher. Markets expect further tightening, but weaker growth may reverse rates. Locking income and maintaining duration is a sound strategy for widening credit spreads.

Investment strategies

One risk after another

Investors often focus on front-of-mind risks, reacting to each headline event without considering long-term impacts. Cass Sunstein and Timur Kuran define this as an "availability cascade," affecting financial decision-making.

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