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4 February 2026
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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.
Most Australians don’t realise they are being charged up to six different types of fees on their superannuation. These fees can be opaque and hard to compare across different funds and investment options.
UniSuper and AustralianSuper are large, complex investment businesses, and it's worth taking a look under the hood before making an investment decision. This looks at the growing trend of bringing investment management in-house.
Although investors should not aim only to minimise costs, fees eat into compounded returns over the long term. Markets are competitive and it is possible to invest a diversified portfolio for negligible cost.
From going it alone with an SMSF to defaulting into a large super fund's balanced option, administration time and fees for super vary materially. Here's a guide to the costs involved and the potential impact on returns.
Treasury has conducted a post-implementation review of the banning of stamping fees paid by product issuers to brokers and advisers. The Australian Shareholders' Association does not support the banning.
If you thought fund managers were banned from paying commissions to financial advisers and brokers to prevent conflicts of interest, you have not kept up with the move to classify clients as wholesale investors.
Popular belief is that all index funds are the same, but it pays to follow this framework, which shows there is more to consider than the cheapest management cost. Replicating an index is not easy.
Treasury has finally banned commissions paid to brokers and advisers on LICs and LITs but the exemption from FoFA rules remains for other listed products in the 'real' economy, whatever that is.
The arguments on whether advisers can accept selling fees on LICs and LITs is heating up as lobbyists work both sides of the fence. Your input to our survey will give Treasury some useful data.
The LIC/LIT stamping fee issue is hotting up, as the Federal Treasurer sets up a snap 'public consultation' to help him. Take our survey and we will present the conclusions to Josh Frydenberg.
Advisers accepting selling fees to push LICs and LITs (and hybrids) has become an industry flashpoint. The heated debate is overlooking crucial points which must be addressed in any final resolution.
What are the best ways to build a simple portfolio from scratch? I’ve addressed this issue before but think it’s worth revisiting given markets and the world have since changed, throwing up new challenges and things to consider.
At this time last year, I forecast that 2025 would likely be a positive year given strong economic prospects and disinflation. The outlook for this year is less clear cut and here is what investors should do.
Treasury has released draft legislation for a new version of the controversial $3 million super tax. It's a significant improvement on the original proposal but there are some stings in the tail.
The renowned investor says 2025’s real story wasn’t AI or US stocks but the shift away from American assets and a collapse in the value of money. And he outlines how to best position portfolios for what’s ahead.
The predictions include dividends will outstrip growth as a source of Australian equity returns, US market performance will be underwhelming, while US government bonds will beat gold.
We don’t have a housing shortage; we have housing misallocation. This explores why so many bedrooms go unused, what’s been tried before, and five things to unlock housing capacity – no new building required.