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6 October 2025
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Your opinions on Hayne, how to retain income after Labor franking, global ETFs, check your fund manager, Aussie deleveraging, 3 tech worries, HYSay.
An excellent response rate gives a good sample of the attitudes of our readers to the Royal Commission's recommendations. We also include some written comments in the responses.
The survey on the Royal Commission included hundreds of comments on what it overlooked. To give a perspective on how our readers felt about the results, here is a large sample.
A reader has asked for the simplest possible explanation of dividend imputation and franking, as the heated debate features many people who do not understand the basics.
Investors whose income may be hit by Labor's franking credits proposal can reallocate away from fully franked dividends to other investments to maintain their income, but it will involve different risks.
Investors do not ask enough questions of their fund managers before they commit money. It's worth at least knowing whether a long-term view is taken rather than the easier road of jumping in and out of markets.
The biggest concern that many analysts ignore is that, after house prices begin falling, the savings ratio climbs, reflecting a lack of consumer confidence, leading to a rapid slowdown in the economy.
In the US, ETFs represent about 16% of the entire managed fund space, but in Australia, it is only 1.5%. With many strategies available including Active ETFs, the growth outlook is strong.
We may be close to 30 billion connected devices, offering unlimited investment opportunities, but a technology backlash is being fuelled by fear and uncertainty around three burning issues.
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.