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7 October 2025
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Summary of asset class performance in 2015 and outlook for 2016, poor market timing hurts returns, the purposes of super, assisting parents financially, challenges faced by robo-advisors and updating your SMSF trust deed.
The best end-of-year wrap of asset class performance in 2015. Aussie equities was a loser but who were the winners, and what's the outlook for each asset class in 2016?
Investing with previous-year top performing fund managers and acting along with the crowd puts you on the wrong side of a zero-sum game. There may be a 'fear' premium for investing in out-of-favour styles.
Many children have more money than their parents ever had, but when providing financial assistance, consider all possible scenarios and document intentions to avoid pain if relationships deteriorate.
Robo-advisers will make their impact in wealth management, but that doesn’t guarantee their success. Like any business, there will be major challenges to overcome as they attempt to disrupt financial advice.
Your SMSF Trust Deed is an important document, governing what the trustees are allowed to do. As superannuation laws change, so too must the Trust Deed, or you risk having a non-compliant fund on your hands.
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.
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.
LICs are continuing to struggle with large discounts and frustrated investors are wondering whether it’s worth holding onto them. This explains why the next 6-12 months will be make or break for many LICs.
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?
Younger Australians think they’ll need $100k a year in retirement - nearly double what current retirees spend. Expectations are rising fast, but are they realistic or just another case of lifestyle inflation?
This week, I got the news that my mother has dementia. It came shortly after my father received the same diagnosis. This is a meditation on getting old and my regrets in not getting my parents’ affairs in order sooner.