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6 October 2025
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As interest rates normalise, investors have been pouring money into cash and bonds, and out of equities. This type of tactical asset allocation may seem sensible though it's unlikely to deliver the best long-term results.
Best-in-class or ‘pure-play’ companies concentrate on one business really well, while companies with diverse operations lead to inefficient capital allocation and underinvest in the best opportunities.
The movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, not only took a journey into the future, it glimpsed many technologies that are now with us. It’s time to look ahead to future asset allocations.
Sticking to a long-term ‘set and forget’ asset allocation plan forgets those close to or in the retirement phase. Further, we are at a point where prospective returns in all markets are lower.
Allocation Switch is an asset allocation strategy that follows the profits instead of following the market, which arguably helps limit downside in the event of a market crash.
An investment strategy and its appropriate ‘strategic asset allocation’ should balance what you are hoping to achieve against the risk of adverse outcomes along the way. It calls for honesty, realism and the right risk tolerance.
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.