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31 July 2025
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Since the rise of ETFs, there has been a focus on fees. Yet, investors should also understand the different indices that funds are benchmarked against and the ETF managers because these too can impact investment outcomes.
There's bad news for those who believe current inflation is transitory: history suggests once inflation peaks above 8%, as the US and much of Europe did this year, it takes a median 10 years to get the rate back to 3%.
Smart beta funds are based on predetermined factors or investment methodologies, not stock selections by fund managers. The funds are transparent and rules-based, usually at a cheaper cost than active managers.
The five main types of smart beta ETFs are all represented on the ASX, bridging the gap between active and passive funds at an attractive price point and grabbing market share.
Non price-weighted index investment strategies, commonly dubbed 'smart beta', are growing in popularity, but as one fund can be structured differently from the next, are there any features to watch out for?
Capital-weighted index funds have been providing investors with low cost exposure to equity markets for 40 years. Now we have the potential of smart beta to consider as an alternative to active and index funds.
Smart beta strategies are now common but they were a quirky idea when Rob Arnott set up his first fund. This veteran of US investing talks about asset allocation, demographics and the state of the asset management industry.
Smart beta strategies are rules-based, transparent and claim to outperform the market over the long term. But investors may need to tolerate short term underperformance (Photo: Adam chats to Harry Markowitz).
Both The Economist and The Financial Times have recently run articles on 'smart beta', suggesting it is time for all pension trustees to consider the merits of this alternative to traditional indexing and active funds.
* 'Smart beta' strategies could reach one-third of all equity allocations by 2017, according to The Financial Times of 15 July 2013.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers aims to tackle tax reform but faces challenges. Previous reviews struggled due to political sensitivities, highlighting the need for comprehensive and politically feasible change.
With Div. 296 looming, is there a smarter way to tax superannuation? This proposes a fairer, income-linked alternative that respects compounding, ensures predictability, and avoids taxing unrealised capital gains.
The Labor government is talking up tax reform to lift Australia’s ailing economic growth. Before any changes are made, it’s important to know who pays tax, who owns assets, and how much people have in their super for retirement.
In selling the super tax, Labor has repeated Treasury claims of there being $50 billion in super tax concessions annually, mostly flowing to high-income earners. This figure is vastly overstated.
There are many ways to invest in stocks, but some strategies are more effective than others. Here are nine tried and tested investment approaches - choosing one of these can improve your chances of reaching your financial goals.
Markets have weathered geopolitical turmoil, hitting near record highs. Investors face tough decisions on valuations, asset concentration, and strategic portfolio rebalancing for risk control and future returns.