Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.
19 May 2025
Recently trending
Reader: "It's excellent so please don't pollute the content with boring mainstream financial 'waffle' and adverts for stuff we don't want!"
Reader: "I subscribe to two newsletters. This is my first read of the week. Thank you. Excellent and please keep up the good work!"
Reader: "Keep it up - the independence is refreshing and is demonstrated by the variety of well credentialed commentators."
Reader: "Love it, just keep doing what you are doing. It is the right length too, any longer and it might become a bit overwhelming."
Andrew Buchan, Partner, HLB Mann Judd: "I have told you a thousand times it's the best newsletter."
Professor Robert Deutsch: "This has got to be the best set of articles on economic and financial matters. Always something worthwhile reading in Firstlinks. Thankyou"
Eleanor Dartnall, AFA Adviser of the Year, 2014: "Our clients love your newsletter. Your articles are avidly read by advisers and they learn a great deal."
Reader: "Carry on as you are - well done. The average investor/SMSF trustee needs all the help they can get."
Reader: " Finding a truly independent and interesting read has been magical for me. Please keep it up and don't change!"
Reader: "Congratulations on a great focussed news source. Australia has a dearth of good quality unbiased financial and wealth management news."
Rob Henshaw: "When I open my computer each day it's the first link I click - a really great read."
Scott Pape, author of The Barefoot Investor: "I'm an avid reader of Cuffelinks. Thanks for the wonderful resource you have here, it really is first class."
Steve: "The best that comes into our world each week. This is the only one that is never, ever canned before fully being reviewed by yours truly."
John Egan, Egan Associates: "My heartiest congratulations. Your panel of contributors is very impressive and keep your readers fully informed."
Reader: "An island of professionalism in an ocean of shallow self-interest. Well done!"
Don Stammer, leading Australian economist: "Congratulations to all associated. It deserves the good following it has."
Australian Investors Association: "Australia's foremost independent financial newsletter for professionals and self-directed investors."
Noel Whittaker, author and financial adviser: "A fabulous weekly newsletter that is packed full of independent financial advice."
David Goldschmidt, Chartered Accountant: "I find this a really excellent newsletter. The best I get. Keep up the good work!"
Ian Silk, CEO, AustralianSuper: "It has become part of my required reading: quality thinking, and (mercifully) to the point."
Reader: "Is one of very few places an investor can go and not have product rammed down their throat. Love your work!"
Reader: "Best innovation I have seen whilst an investor for 25 years. The writers are brilliant. A great publication which I look forward to."
Reader: "The BEST in the game because of diversity and not aligned to financial products. Stands above all the noise."
Reader: "I can quickly sort the items that I am interested in, then research them more fully. It is also a regular reminder that I need to do this."
Reader: "Great resource. Cuffelinks is STILL the one and only weekly newsletter I regularly read."
Ian Kelly, CFP, BTACS Financial Services: "Probably the best source of commentary and information I have seen over the past 20 years."
John Pearce, Chief Investment Officer, Unisuper: "Out of the (many many) investmentrelated emails I get, Cuffelinks is one that I always open."
Jonathan Hoyle, CEO, Stanford Brown: "A fabulous publication. The only must-read weekly publication for the Australian wealth management industry."
The ASX All Ordinaries index is around the same price that it was in 2007, so is it time to give up on the local share market and look elsewhere? Here's why you shouldn't listen to the pessimists and stay invested.
Australian banks are the Pilbara of the global financial system, with irreplaceable assets that are among the world's best. Current bank hybrid prices offer favourable rewards with limited risk for investors.
Global microcaps are a relatively underexplored and misunderstood asset class. They allow diversification from the concentration seen not only in large cap indexes, but the companies held by many active managers.
Investors ask whether global supply chains were stretched too far and too complex, and following COVID, is globalisation dead? New research suggests the impact on investment returns will not be as great as feared.
57 million people die every year, including over 3 million from respiratory diseases. Why is COVID-19 allowed to panic nations around the world and destroy so many businesses and jobs?
Lists of the best funds of 2019 show geared funds dominate, which is little more than a statement that gearing does well in a strong market. What about the costs and downside when it's not so good?
APRA’s letter to super funds highlights concerns about 'cash' investments. A lack of understanding might haunt investors when the next downturn comes as too many people forsake protection for yield.
Before the GFC, many experienced market professionals forgot about risks such as liquidity, and did not do the research needed to minimise the problems. It will all happen again.
This brief history of the GFC and the lessons we should learn is a reminder that similar events will happen again at some stage, and this time we have no excuse not to be ready.
The National Seniors Australia (NSA) survey reveals that retirees want access to regular and stable income, even at the expense of lower returns. The need to preserve capital reduces tolerance of losses.
It's too easy to look at a long-term chart of rising share prices and be reassured about performance. But adjusted for inflation, many of our largest companies have gone nowhere in half a century.
The fundamentals point toward bankruptcies of major sovereigns like the US and Japan in the next decade. The after effects could be catastrophic on all major asset classes. It’s time to discuss the makeup and costs of insurance.
Labor has announced a $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program, aimed at slashing the cost of home batteries. The goal is to turbocharge battery uptake, though practical difficulties may prevent that happening.
The famed investor says the rapid switch from globalisation to trade wars is the biggest upheaval in the investing environment since World War Two. And a new world requires a different investment approach.
The boss of Australia’s fourth largest super fund by assets, UniSuper’s John Pearce, says Trump has declared an economic war and he’ll be reducing his US stock exposure over time. Should you follow suit?
Every crisis throws up opportunities. Here are ideas to capitalise on this one, including ‘overbalancing’ your portfolio in stocks, buying heavily discounted LICs, and cherry picking bombed out sectors like oil and gas.
While many chase high yields, true investment power lies in companies that steadily grow dividends. This strategy, rooted in patience and discipline, quietly compounds wealth and anchors investors through market turbulence.
Behind market volatility and tariff threats lies a deeper strategy. Trump’s real goal isn’t trade reform but managing America's massive debts, preserving bond market confidence, and preparing for potential QE.