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9 September 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.
Each generation believes its economic challenges were uniquely tough - but what does the data say? A closer look reveals a more nuanced, complex story behind the generational hardship debate.
Australia could unlock smarter investment and greater equity by reforming housing tax concessions. Rethinking exemptions on the family home could benefit most Australians, especially renters and owners of modest homes.
This goes through the different options including shares, property and business ownership and declares a winner, as well as outlining the mindset needed to earn enough to never have to work again.
Everyone has a theory as to why housing in Australia is so expensive. There are a lot of different factors at play, from skewed migration patterns to banking trends and housing's status as a national obsession.
The creator of the 4% rule for retirement withdrawals, Bill Bengen, has written a new book outlining fresh strategies to outlive your money, including holding fewer stocks in early retirement before increasing allocations.
China's steel production, equivalent to building one Sydney Harbour Bridge every 10 minutes, has driven Australia's economic growth. With China's slowdown, what does this mean for Australia's economy and investments?