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15 October 2025
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Learn from last month's market activity, disruptive times for super, FoFA to date and Best Interest Duty, the 1 in 100 year event, and the use of currency hedges.
October 2014 could be filed away as another month of reasonably normal returns. However if you lived through it day-to-day, there were lots of events and volatility, including somewhat of a ‘mini-panic’.
It could be said that the super system is always facing disruption. As the system grows it will be constantly reviewed, scrutinised and changed, and industry participants should work together for the collective good.
Government plans to amend FoFA are in tatters, due mainly to ill-informed comments about the nature of financial advice. 'Best interests duty' goes way beyond 'duty of care' used in other professions.
How many times do we hear that a ‘1 in 100 year’ event has occurred? Weather and financial market events in particular seem to have occurred far more than once in the last 100 years.
With recent volatility in the value of the Australian dollar, investor attention is drawn to the topic of currency hedging. What impact does currency have on an international equity portfolio for an Australian investor?
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.
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.
Retirement can be daunting for Australians facing financial uncertainty. Understand your goals, longevity challenges, inflation impacts, market risks, and components of retirement income with these crucial charts.
Five mega trends point to risks of a more inflation prone and lower growth environment. This, along with rich market valuations, should constrain medium term superannuation returns to around 5% per annum.
With rising home prices and falling affordability, political leaders preach reform. But asset disclosures show many are heavily invested in property - raising doubts about whose interests housing policy really protects.