21 November 2024

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Home / Author: Duncan Burns

Duncan Burns

Blending active and passive into a winning portfolio

When looking at long-term equity index charts, it’s easy to forget the individual stocks underpinning the indices don’t move as a unified block. This has important implications for how you try to extract returns from markets.

Duncan Burns
6 December 2023
5

Does currency hedging provide an edge?

A growing number of Australians are choosing to hedge their international equity exposures. Currency movements are difficult to predict so investors should treat currency hedging as a way to manage risk, not to add return.

Duncan Burns
4 October 2023
2

Five reasons to hold your investment nerve

Financial markets have been volatile of late, and it's tempting for investors to seek shelter in cash for some or all of their nest egg. While that may seem a sensible strategy, it can also be a costly one.

Duncan Burns
21 June 2023
2

What happens when an index is rebalanced?

An index rebalance occurs when the composition of an index changes. Fund managers must buy and sell stocks to match the rebalanced index and to achieve their index-tracking objective, but there are consequences.

Duncan Burns
28 September 2022
5

Choosing an index fund is more than just the expense ratio

Popular belief is that all index funds are the same, but it pays to follow this framework, which shows there is more to consider than the cheapest management cost. Replicating an index is not easy.

Duncan Burns
3 June 2020
6

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Latest Updates

Looking beyond banks for dividend income

The Big Four banks have had an extraordinary run and it’s left income investors with a conundrum: to stick with them even though they now offer relatively low dividend yields and limited growth prospects or to look elsewhere.

James Gruber
20 November 2024
4

Exchange traded products

AFIC on its record discount, passive investing and pricey stocks

A triple headwind has seen Australia's biggest LIC swing to a 10% discount and scuppered its relative performance. Management was bullish in an interview with Firstlinks, but is the discount ever likely to close?

Joseph Taylor
20 November 2024
11

Superannuation

Hidden fees are a super problem

Most Australians don’t realise they are being charged up to six different types of fees on their superannuation. These fees can be opaque and hard to compare across different funds and investment options.

Tony Kaye
20 November 2024
7

ASX large cap outlook for 2025

Economic growth in Australia looks to have bottomed, which means it makes sense to selectively add to cyclical exposures on the ASX in addition to key thematics like decarbonisation and technological change.

Paul Xiradis
20 November 2024
1

Property

Taking advantage of the property cycle

Understanding the property cycle can be a useful tool to make informed decisions and stay focused on long-term goals. This looks at where we are in the commercial property cycle and the potential opportunities for investors.

Colin Mackay
20 November 2024
1

Investment strategies

Is this bedrock of financial theory a mirage?

The concept of an 'equity risk premium' has driven asset allocation decisions for decades. A revamped study suggests it was a relatively short-lived phenomenon rather than the mainstay many thought.

Phil Graham
20 November 2024
1

Vale Graham Hand

It’s with heavy hearts that we announce Firstlinks’ co-founder and former Managing Editor, Graham Hand, has died aged 66. Graham was a legendary figure in the finance industry and here are three tributes to him.

Chris Cuffe, James Gruber, Mark LaMonica CFA
19 November 2024
174

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