6 October 2025

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Simple maths says the AI investment boom ends badly Why we should follow Canada and cut migration Are LICs licked?Australian house price speculators: What were you thinking?Retirement income expectations hit new highs

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Edition: 345

1-8 out of 8 results.

Welcome to Firstlinks Edition 345

20 February 2020
1

Investment returns in major asset classes in 2019 were wonderful, except for cash and term deposits. With growth super funds delivering around 10% a year for a decade, it's tempting to expect similar good returns in future. The Morningstar Gameboard below shows only two negative results across all asset classes in any year over the last five years.

Should your equity manager hold lots of cash?

Graham Hand
19 February 2020
24

An investment with any fund manager should be part of an asset allocation decision, but what happens when your equity manager decides to do a major switch to cash? It messes up your plan.

Worshipping at the altar of alternative assets

Simon Scott
19 February 2020
3

Investors worried about an overvalued sharemarket and low interest rates on term deposits and bonds are focusing on alternatives. What are they and how are they used by leading asset allocators?

Where do sustainable returns come from?

Ashley Owen
19 February 2020
6

The 20% share price gains over the past 12 months have not been supported by similar improvements in company earnings. The market is willing to pay far more for each $1 of profit or dividends.

The moral hazard of a national super fund

Rob Prugue
19 February 2020
9

If billions of dollars of retirement savings were lost by a government agency in a national super scheme, the cost and risk would be passed back to the government and ‘caveat emptor’ would be history.

Dispelling the disruption myth

Charles Dalziell
19 February 2020
1

We tend to call any change a 'disruption', but the vast majority of so-called disruptive technologies are variations on a theme. Many innovations are really high-risk, low-probability investments.

Watch your SMSF’s annual return this year

Graeme Colley
19 February 2020
2

The best way to preserve your SMSF’s favoured status is to make sure the fund’s annual return reaches the ATO on time. There are new rules this year that every SMSF trustee should know.

SMSFs have major role but not for everyone

John Maroney
19 February 2020

Arguments between segments of the super industry do not foster public confidence. SMSFs are suitable for many who seek control of their own financial destiny, but it's not a competition.

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Most viewed in recent weeks

Simple maths says the AI investment boom ends badly

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.

Harris Kupperman
27 August 2025

Why we should follow Canada and cut migration

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.

James Gruber
27 August 2025

Are LICs licked?

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.

James Gruber
10 September 2025

Australian house price speculators: What were you thinking?

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?

Larry Bricks*
27 August 2025

Retirement income expectations hit new highs

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?

Vanguard Investments Australia
24 September 2025

Welcome to Firstlinks Edition 627 with weekend update

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.

4 September 2025

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