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1 October 2026
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Something unusual is happening in markets. The winners are pulling further ahead at an extraordinary pace. As return dispersion hits extreme levels, volatility is rising and the investing landscape is becoming harder to navigate.
Quality strategies shine globally, but Australia's concentrated market tells a different story. Limited diversification and sector dominance can constrain the defensive outcomes investors have seen in broader markets.
New research shows smarter portfolio construction—not new factors—is the real edge in the hunt for alpha. However, finding it requires a fundamentally different mindset.
As a relentless fee war grips Australia’s ETF market, investors may be missing the real battleground. Beyond basis points, index design itself - not cost - may be the most powerful driver of returns.
Factor-based ETFs are bridging the gap between active and passive investing, giving investors low-cost access to proven drivers of long-term returns such as quality, value, momentum and dividend yield.
Investors often express their views on markets by tilting their portfolios towards certain sectors, in the hope of generating excess returns. Factor investing is a more sophisticated tool that can help to achieve better results.
Charlie Munger is famous for applying different 'mental models' to get an edge in markets. In this vain, here's a look at how ecological niches can be applied to stock markets and may help you become a better investor.
As markets whipsaw, the risk that volatility might undermine investors’ ability to achieve their return objectives looms large. What can investors do to mitigate that risk and avoid falling short of their goals?
Real returns on equities and multi-asset portfolios are typically poor when inflation is high, especially in times of stagflation. Factor returns, on the other hand, are relatively insensitive to inflation cycles.
Powerful structural themes such as technology disruption and demographic changes may disguise what is driving company success. Watch these broad categories as they may not apply in ways you expect.
Interest in 'quality' factor ETFs has increased this year, helped by very attractive returns. However, not all ETFs are created alike and there are divergences in portfolio traits which investors can identify.
As more Australians invest overseas, currency exposure represents a new risk. 50% hedged, 50% unhedged was once a popular ‘least regret’ approach, but there's a move to currency as a return source.
Conventional wisdom encourages retirees to preserve superannuation. But if those likely to qualify for the Age Pension later in life spend a little more today, it may deliver higher lifetime income and a more stable retirement.
For generations, Australian investors have backed banks, miners and dividends. But has that loyalty come at a cost? A look at the numbers raises an uncomfortable question about where future returns will come from.
Reversionary pensions have long been a staple of SMSF estate planning, but are they still the best option? Meg Heffron revisits a once-clear favourite and asks whether changing super rules have shifted the balance.
The fight over testamentary trusts looked settled. Then the draft legislation arrived. Hidden in a technical detail is a question that could force many families to rethink wills they thought were already future-proof.
The 4% rule has long been retirement's gold standard. But after a difficult period for investors, fresh analysis suggests a more conservative approach may significantly improve the chances of making savings last.
Investors have long accepted one portfolio rule without much question. A major tax shift could change that calculation entirely, forcing difficult trade-offs between risk, discipline and an overlooked cost lurking beneath.