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25 June 2026
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Understand performance statistics, diversification matches future needs, bond default winners and losers, biases of goalkeepers and fund managers, and understand a re-contribution strategy.
Fund managers often quote statistics to explain their performance, but what do they really mean, and how can we make useful comparisons?
Diversification thinking has evolved from risk and correlations to a focus on matching the future expected liabilities of an investor. It can change the way assets are allocated.
Even when governments default on their debts, there is money to be made by investors who resist the temptation to panic sell in a crisis.
Portfolio managers and goalkeepers feel the need to do something, but an awareness of this action bias may help them recognise that inaction can be an optimal strategy.
A withdrawal and re-contribution strategy involves accessing your super and re-contributing some or all of it back into your SMSF as a non-concessional contribution (i.e. all tax-free).
Marketed as a fix for inequality and housing affordability, the latest budget instead delivers a tangle of tax changes that leave everyday Australians worse off.
Australia may not levy formal death duties, but a growing web of tax measures is quietly shaping what wealth passes between generations. Now, the 2026 budget adds another layer.
The debate over the budget is increasingly shaped by frustration and perceptions of unfairness, rather than clear-eyed assessment of policy outcomes.
Inheritance tax implications in Australia may surprise some, as poor estate planning without proper wills or trusts can lead to costly tax bills and delays for beneficiaries.
Proposed Budget changes to taxation are casting new uncertainty over testamentary trusts, prompting closer scrutiny of estate planning structures and the real implications of reforms still taking shape.
A return to indexation of capital gains would be a fairer way to compensate households for the effects of inflation than the current discount. Importantly, it opens the door to future, broader reforms to stop the taxation of inflation.