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22 January 2025
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Your opinions on Hayne, how to retain income after Labor franking, global ETFs, check your fund manager, Aussie deleveraging, 3 tech worries, HYSay.
An excellent response rate gives a good sample of the attitudes of our readers to the Royal Commission's recommendations. We also include some written comments in the responses.
The survey on the Royal Commission included hundreds of comments on what it overlooked. To give a perspective on how our readers felt about the results, here is a large sample.
A reader has asked for the simplest possible explanation of dividend imputation and franking, as the heated debate features many people who do not understand the basics.
Investors whose income may be hit by Labor's franking credits proposal can reallocate away from fully franked dividends to other investments to maintain their income, but it will involve different risks.
Investors do not ask enough questions of their fund managers before they commit money. It's worth at least knowing whether a long-term view is taken rather than the easier road of jumping in and out of markets.
The biggest concern that many analysts ignore is that, after house prices begin falling, the savings ratio climbs, reflecting a lack of consumer confidence, leading to a rapid slowdown in the economy.
In the US, ETFs represent about 16% of the entire managed fund space, but in Australia, it is only 1.5%. With many strategies available including Active ETFs, the growth outlook is strong.
We may be close to 30 billion connected devices, offering unlimited investment opportunities, but a technology backlash is being fuelled by fear and uncertainty around three burning issues.
Last year, I wrote an article suggesting returns from ASX stocks would trample those from housing over the next decade. One year later, this is an update on how that forecast is going and what's changed since.
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.
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.
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.
Key lessons include expensive stocks can always get more expensive, Bitcoin is our tulip mania, follow the smart money, the young are coming with pitchforks on housing, and the importance of staying invested.
Check out the most-read Firstlinks articles from 2024. From '16 ASX stocks to buy and hold forever', to 'The best strategy to build income for life', and 'Where baby boomer wealth will end up', there's something for all.