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6 October 2025
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Lessons from Sir Alex Ferguson, Harry Markowitz and Don Stammer - what a trio! Plus variability of retirement income and the impact of budgets on the stockmarket.
Nobel Laureate Harry Markowitz gave us the foundation of modern portfolio management in 1952, but he is now working on providing online retail financial advice and asset selection according to risk profiles.
Most financial plans focus on the amount of money required for a comfortable retirement, but knowing the variability of that outcome might change your mind on how much is enough.
The Federal Government should run balanced budgets over the economic cycle, otherwise uncertainties build up and costs are imposed because the bills still have to be paid somehow.
A look at history shows government deficit years and fiscal tightening have generally been good years for stockmarket returns. 2013-4 will most probably be a deficit year, as is 2012-3.
Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful football manager of all time, but for many years he struggled at Manchester United. Here are some leadership lessons he demonstrated as his teams went on to win 38 trophies.
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.