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27 February 2026
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APRA has released a plan to phase out bank hybrid securities and replace them with capital it regards as cheaper and safer. The transition will impact hybrid markets, funding spreads, and investor strategies.
Financial literacy equips women with the knowledge and confidence to build wealth and achieve long-term financial goals. By rethinking traditional approaches, we can find new ways to close the gender gap on this issue.
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.
Buy-Write funds sell options to generate extra income but it means they may give away some of the upside potential. During periods of market weakness and a need for more income, is the time right for this strategy?
In designing rules to protect investors, ASIC prevents reinvestment in products some people have held for years, even when investors qualify as 'wholesale'. How can ASIC change the rules to correct the imbalance?
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he will “create a new sustainable finance architecture, including a new taxonomy to label the climate impact of different investments." Here are some tongue-in-cheek suggestions to help him.
ETFs gain the headlines as issuers are skilled at promoting their growth and new funds. Yet ETFs are tiny compared with managed funds, which advisers prefer on platforms. Which will be the long-term winner?
A Contract for Difference (CFD) is a highly-leveraged investment used for speculative and gambling activities by retail investors without the knowledge to take such risks. ASIC is struggling to control the product.
Complex products beyond the purview of ASIC are being offered to retail investors based on tax and return advantages beyond the ability of investors to assess, making them manifestly unsuitable.
Investment styles go in and out of fashion and can explain why some fund managers spend long periods under- or out-performing an overall index. But what are these major styles?
Many people have changed their minds on whether the Royal Commission was a good idea. What the fact-finding reveals though is an age-old lesson in economics: outcomes gravitate toward incentives.
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 post-World War Two economic system is unravelling, leading to huge shifts in currency, bond and commodity markets, yet stocks seem oblivious to the chaos. This looks to history as a guide for what’s next.
Our cost-of-living pressures go beyond the RBA: surging house prices, excessive migration, and expanding government programs, including the NDIS, are fuelling inflation, demanding bold, structural solutions.
The capital gains tax discount is under review, but debate should go beyond its size. Its original purpose, design flaws and distortions suggest Australia could adopt a better, more targeted approach.
A more rational taxation system that supports home ownership but discourages asset speculation could provide greater financial support to first home buyers.
This is my last edition as Editor of Firstlinks. I’m moving onto a new role though the newsletter will remain in good hands until my permanent replacement is found.