Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.
20 April 2024
Recently trending
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."
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: "Is one of very few places an investor can go and not have product rammed down their throat. Love your work!"
Reader: "Great resource. Cuffelinks is STILL the one and only weekly newsletter I regularly read."
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."
Reader: "Congratulations on a great focussed news source. Australia has a dearth of good quality unbiased financial and wealth management news."
Reader: "Keep it up - the independence is refreshing and is demonstrated by the variety of well credentialed commentators."
Reader: "Carry on as you are - well done. The average investor/SMSF trustee needs all the help they can get."
Don Stammer, leading Australian economist: "Congratulations to all associated. It deserves the good following it has."
Noel Whittaker, author and financial adviser: "A fabulous weekly newsletter that is packed full of independent financial advice."
Reader: "An island of professionalism in an ocean of shallow self-interest. Well done!"
Reader: "The BEST in the game because of diversity and not aligned to financial products. Stands above all the noise."
Reader: " Finding a truly independent and interesting read has been magical for me. Please keep it up and don't change!"
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."
Jonathan Hoyle, CEO, Stanford Brown: "A fabulous publication. The only must-read weekly publication for the Australian wealth management industry."
Ian Silk, CEO, AustralianSuper: "It has become part of my required reading: quality thinking, and (mercifully) to the point."
Ian Kelly, CFP, BTACS Financial Services: "Probably the best source of commentary and information I have seen over the past 20 years."
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"
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: "It's excellent so please don't pollute the content with boring mainstream financial 'waffle' and adverts for stuff we don't want!"
David Goldschmidt, Chartered Accountant: "I find this a really excellent newsletter. The best I get. Keep up the good work!"
Andrew Buchan, Partner, HLB Mann Judd: "I have told you a thousand times it's the best newsletter."
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."
John Pearce, Chief Investment Officer, Unisuper: "Out of the (many many) investmentrelated emails I get, Cuffelinks is one that I always open."
Australian Investors Association: "Australia's foremost independent financial newsletter for professionals and self-directed investors."
John Egan, Egan Associates: "My heartiest congratulations. Your panel of contributors is very impressive and keep your readers fully informed."
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."
More of us are becoming portfolio managers, of at least our own portfolios. But in the professional arena, managing other people's money requires special skills, with qualifications and ongoing training.
It's fashionable to have an SMSF, and at barbecue talk, it goes well with the new car, private school, investment property and overseas holiday. But who should really have one?
The accounting profession has been sold a pup by the ASIC licensing rules which allow accountants to advise on SMSFs. It's a different business model requiring full financial risk and due diligence analysis.
Australia needs capital for infrastructure, and SMSF trustees want direct access to assets with yield and long-term security. It's a win-win if governments can find a structure to bring the two together.
Are there investment opportunities out there that only small funds can capitalise on? Being small has some advantages over larger funds which can be used to stand out in an overcrowded industry.
This submission to the FSI shows the effect of gearing on returns, the ways agents target SMSFs and the modest income returns from residential property. And on cue, the latest spruiking leaflet arrived in the mail.
A withdrawal and re-contribution strategy involves accessing your super and re-contributing some or all of it back into your SMSF as a non-concessional contribution (i.e. all tax-free).
Using a limited recourse loan to buy property within a SMSF sounds great but the restrictions on such arrangements will work against you when it comes to improving or developing the land.
Contribution splitting allows a super member to split up to 85% of concessional contributions received in a financial year with their spouse, and there are times when this is a good strategy.
Qualifying as a 'wholesale' investor opens many investment opportunities not available to most retail investors, but the interpretation of the rules is inconsistent across the industry.
The ATO has released all the superannuation rates and thresholds that will apply from 1 July 2024. Here's what’s changing and what’s not, and some key considerations and opportunities in the lead up to 30 June and beyond.
Jim Simons has achieved breathtaking returns of 62% p.a. over 33 years, a track record like no other, yet he remains little known to the public. Here’s how he’s done it, and the lessons that can be applied to our own investing.
Life has radically shifted with my brain cancer, and I don’t know if it will ever be the same again. After decades of writing and a dozen years with Firstlinks, I still want to contribute, but exactly how and when I do that is unclear.
Australia will have 3.7 million more people in a decade's time, though the growth won't be evenly distributed. Over 85s will see the fastest growth, while the number of younger people will barely rise.
Being rich is having a high-paying job and accumulating fancy houses and cars, while being wealthy is owning assets that provide passive income, as well as freedom and flexibility. Knowing the difference can reframe your life.
Investor disgust, consolidation, de-listings, price discounts, activist investors entering - it’s what typically happens at business cycle troughs, and it’s happening to LICs now. That may present a potential opportunity.