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4 December 2025
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Bringing funds management in-house is a popular move for large Australian super funds, but the potential problems have been highlighted by Harvard, an early pioneer of the practice, returning to outsourcing.
Family offices and institutional asset allocators select their fund managers based on different factors, and it influences the quality and outcomes of their decisions.
The reputations of credit rating agencies took a hammering during the GFC, and while there are legitimate criticisms, they have an important role to play and are followed by most major investors.
Arrium's collapse provides a case study on how Australian banks failed to properly monitor loan quality and company developments. Compensation for risk is one thing, but equally crucial is return of capital.
The increases in margins on Australian listed hybrids are prompting investors to ask whether the returns finally match the risks. Hybrids come in many forms so watch the finer details.
Second mortgages are far more common than is recognised, often in the form of expensive debt. These 'silent seconds' may sit unnoticed until market conditions deteriorate and payments cannot be met.
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.
The ASX's performance this year has again highlighted a persistent riddle facing investors – how to approach an index reliant on a few sectors and handful of stocks. Here are some ideas on how to build a durable portfolio.
Despite three years under the retirement income covenant, regulators warn a growing gap between leading and lagging super funds, driven by poor member insights and patchy outcomes measurement.
The ASX seems a market split in two: between the haves and have nots; or those with growth and momentum and those without. In this environment, opportunity favours those willing to look beyond the obvious.
OpenAI’s business model isn't sustainable in the long run. If markets catch on, the company could face higher borrowing costs, or worse, and that would have major spillover effects.
‘Hyperscalers’ including Google, Meta and Microsoft are fuelling an unprecedented surge in equity and debt issuance to bankroll massive AI-driven capital expenditure. History shows this isn't without risk.
Leveraged ETFs seek to deliver some multiple of an underlying index or reference asset’s return over a day. Yet, they aren’t even delivering the target return on an average day as they’re meant to do.