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8 October 2025
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It’s one of Australia’s oldest listed investment companies, yet few investors have heard of it. While LICs like Australian Foundation Investment Company and Argo Investments grab the limelight, Whitefield prefers low key.
Stop whinging! Analysts are describing markets in 2022 as 'brutal' or 'terrible', but total returns in Australian stock markets were up and balanced funds were down only slightly. It was not that bad.
While ETFs and passive funds continue to attract flows, the move in the June 2022 quarter is to Australian equities and fixed interest. Local investors have reduced the impact of larger falls in global markets.
Why invest in an unlisted fund when the listed version of the same fund is priced at a discount? Why hold a listed version at a premium when the unlisted version is cheaper? Find the best way to invest.
Equity funds tend to receive most attention, and the media focuses on fund themes and new ideas. Surprising to many, fixed income is typically the quiet achiever in the Australian retail asset management industry.
Over eight years since February 2013, Firstlinks has become a leading financial newsletter, publishing thousands of articles from hundreds of writers. To mark this milestone, 45 experts have joined the celebration for our 400th edition bringing their best investing ideas for the next few years.
Many investors use the new year to review their portfolios, and in this free ebook, two dozen fund managers and product providers give their best ideas for 2021 - some stocks, some funds, some sectors.
Structuring an investment team around geography or sectors leads to manager bias in poor sectors. Better to focus on a few areas of fascination where product and business expertise can develop.
Emerging market indices have become poor representations of the investment opportunities in that asset class. Should Taiwan and South Korea still be there? And which newly emerging markets are missing?
This AI cycle feels less like a revolution and more like a rerun. Just like fibre in 2000, shale in 2014, and cannabis in 2019, the technology or product is real but the capital cycle will be brutal. Investors beware.
An explosion in low-skilled migration to Australia has depressed wages, killed productivity, and cut rental vacancy rates to near decades-lows. It’s time both sides of politics addressed the issue.
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.
Australian housing’s 50-year boom was driven by falling rates and rising borrowing power — not rent or yield. With those drivers exhausted, future returns must reconcile with economic fundamentals. Are we ready?
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.