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8 October 2025
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Welcome to ‘Mapping Markets’, the first in a new quarterly series of ideas and outlook from Insight’s investment team. This report covers Insight Investment’s latest thinking on diverse topics spanning credit markets, the global economy and responsible investment.
Blockchain is a powerful technology. The most successful companies will be those that have the ability to harness its power. Three groundbreaking examples are global payments, data protection and verifying land titles.
The fixed income sector has come under scrutiny lately, specially following Italy’s bond crisis. Insight Investment, a leading global asset manager, has published its quarterly review and outlook. This report is intended for wholesale investors.
Australian investors with foreign currency assets must consider whether to hedge the currency exposure, but the overall context of their portfolio is relevant or losses could be magnified.
Fund managers take different approaches to asset allocation, either leaving it unchanged in a 'strategic' position, or responding 'dynamically'. Either way, multi-asset funds have many of the features retirees want.
A large part of the return from investing in emerging market assets comes from currency exposure. However, Australian dollar investors typically lose out on this due to the economic links between Australia and Asia, and the impact of changes in commodity prices.
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.