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4 July 2025
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It's important to demand the highest standards from firms that are entrusted with managing other people’s savings. Key attributes to look for are strong stewardship and the ability to deliver long-term returns.
Investors face a difficult decision when choosing their fund managers. Here's a guide for how they can find active managers with sustainable long-term advantages who can help make a difference to their portfolios.
Investors can invest in the funds of our leading fund managers, or they can invest in the business itself. The success of the fund manager is 'twinned' to the performance of the fund, but what type of twins are they?
We often assign quality in investment choice by historical returns, backed up when we see fund flows directed towards such historically well-performing funds. This is a mistake made by investors and regulators.
Investing in a traditional index can be compared with taking the main road to a destination, but if you know the backroads and traffic conditions, you coud reach your goal quicker.
Notwithstanding the wide variety of fund managers and fund structures vying for the investor dollar, some questions need to be asked of all of them. They help us determine the quality of the fund and the manager.
Financial advisers spend an inordinate amount of time selecting fund managers for their clients, but is the impact/effort matrix worth it. It's hard enough for good managers to even beat the index.
Family offices and institutional asset allocators select their fund managers based on different factors, and it influences the quality and outcomes of their decisions.
The funds management industry is undergoing consolidation and evolving rapidly, under pressure to provide better service and high returns while cutting costs. Chris Cuffe discusses the present and the future.
Paying a high performance fee must be a good problem to have, as it must mean the fund manager has delivered outstanding performance, right? It's not always the case, and it pays to know how the fee is calculated.
Last week’s article on index versus active portfolio management drew many comments, including on the website, by email and by forwarding other articles to us. Here is a sample.
If you think you can identify the few managers who can outperform the index over time, either by research or based on advice, go for it. But the odds are stacked against you.
The Government's proposed tax has copped a lot of flack though I think it's a reasonable approach to improve the long-term sustainability of superannuation and the retirement income system. Here’s why.
You've no doubt heard about Division 296. These case studies show what people at various levels above the $3 million threshold might need to pay the ATO, with examples ranging from under $500 to more than $35,000.
The $3m super tax could be put down to the Government needing money and the wealthy being easy targets. It’s deeper than that though and this looks at the factors behind the policy and why more taxes on the wealthy are coming.
The super tax has caused an almighty scuffle, but for SMSFs impacted by the proposed tax, a big question remains: what should they do now? Here are ideas for those wanting to withdraw money from their SMSF.
Australia's superannuation inequities date back to poor decisions made by Parliament two decades ago. If super for the wealthy needs resetting, so too does the defined benefits schemes for our public servants.
Business investment and per capita GDP have languished over the past decade and the Labor Government is conducting inquiries to find out why. Franking credits should be part of the debate about our stalling economy.