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26 December 2025
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Volatility in interest rate expectations and elevated yields may amplify traditional portfolio risks. Gold has a low correlation to equities and bonds and can help improve the performance of portfolios.
There's been a surge of interest in overseas equities as the Australian market lags. This explores various approaches to determine the best allocation of international equities within a long-term investment portfolio.
Benjamin Graham wrote that everyone should hold between 25% and 75% in equities, with the rest in bonds. That's a big range, but equities give the best long-term returns. The right level is the point where you sleep easy.
Underpinning the current wave of consolidation amongst Australian super funds is the belief that it helps to be big. Is this really the case and is there any advantage in being a member of a large super fund?
Over decades, relatively few companies generate all the stockmarket's outperformance. Is this an argument for passive investing or does it prove active investing is rewarded? Bessembinder lets you decide.
Many investors ask why fund managers do not protect the portfolio downside by using options. All insurance has a cost, and achieving full protection is expensive, but there are other ways to use options.
We discover which asset classes you have been investing in during the pandemic, how portfolio values have changed, and also your outlook on market recovery. Much diversity of opinion.
Do you risk paying a lot of tax in accumulation phase? Or, if you're in retirement phase, do you face the risk of outliving your asset pool? Two key things to consider in the low-rate world of today.
The returns from Australian shares come from four main components. Any forecast needs to consider these different parts, as Australian shares were recent laggards in diversified portfolios.
Bonds have performed well for most of the last 30 years with a tailwind of easing liquidity, but the current high prices makes them vulnerable to losing their protective qualities.
It's been a golden period for investing for those willing to take some risk. Australia has experienced six straight years when everything went up, and this has never happened before in history.
When making decisions on your equity portfolio, try ignoring the noise of the financial media and concentrate on companies that will continue to generate high returns on capital.
Retirement isn’t a clean financial arc. Income shocks, health costs and family pressures hit at random, exposing the limits of age-based planning and the myth of a predictable “retirement journey".
The superannuation system has succeeded brilliantly at what it was designed to do: accumulate wealth during working lives. The next challenge is meeting members’ diverse needs in retirement.
Two years ago, I wrote an article suggesting that the odds favoured ASX shares easily outperforming residential property over the next decade. Here’s an update on where things stand today.
I am a professional real estate investor who hears a lot of opinions rather than facts from so-called experts on the topic of property. Here are the largest myths when it comes to Australia’s biggest asset class.
In an interview with Firstlinks, CEO Mark Freeman discusses how speculative ASX stocks have crushed blue chips this year, companies he likes now, and why he’s confident AFIC’s NTA discount will close.
It might not be quite an ‘everything bubble’ but there’s froth in many assets, not just US stocks, right now. It might be time to stress test your portfolio and consider assets that could offer you shelter if trouble is coming.