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4 February 2025
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Value v growth investors, managing the $1.6m cap, tips on managed accounts, Douglass macro update, sovereign defaults coming, carer inherits estate.
The idea that stocks should be divided into growth and yield categories diverts us from fundamentals. Intrinsic value eventually manifests in higher cash flow, whether or not share price appreciation anticipates it.
The $1.6 million Transfer Balance Cap (TBC) on pension accounts affects only capital balances. It’s not affected by income earned and pensions paid, and there are ways to maximise the remaining tax-free status.
Several factors contribute to the growth in managed accounts, which are like ‘implemented advice’ for investors. Despite the fallout from the Royal Commission, these factors are largely unaffected so growth should continue.
Choosing the right managed account can be achieved more effectively by checking certain key features including fee structures, investment strategies, independence, performance and risk metrics.
More advisers want control over their businesses for the benefit of themselves and their clients rather than operating under institutional guidelines, and software providers are facilitating the change.
The fundamentals point toward bankruptcies of major sovereigns like the US and Japan in the next decade. The after effects could be catastrophic on all major asset classes. It’s time to discuss the makeup and costs of insurance.
Carers may have a legitimate claim to an estate even if the deceased suffered from dementia when making a subsequent will. The Court seeks to establish whether testamentary capacity was disabled.
The housing market was subdued in 2024, and pessimism abounds as we start the new year. 2025 is likely to be a tale of two halves, with interest rate cuts fuelling a resurgence in buyer demand in the second half of the year.
This examines the performance of key asset classes and sub-sectors in 2024 and over longer timeframes, and the lessons that can be drawn for constructing an investment portfolio for the next decade.
While encouraging people to draw down on their accumulated wealth in retirement might be good public policy, several million retirees disagree because they are purposefully conserving that capital. It’s time for a different approach.
The renowned investor has penned his first investor letter for 2025 and it’s a ripper. He runs through what bubbles are, which ones he’s experienced, and whether today’s markets qualify as the third major bubble of this century.
Getting regular, growing income from stocks is tougher with the dividend yield on the ASX nearing 25-year lows. Here are some conventional and not-so-conventional ideas for investors wanting to build a dividend portfolio.
2024 was a banner year for equities, with a run-up in US tech stocks broadening into a global market rally, and the big question now is whether the good times can continue? History suggests optimism is warranted.