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22 January 2025
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The great fee debate continues, a fund that's the best and the worst, real estate investing, options for saving for kids, looking further into company announcements, and the similarities between running and investing.
In part 2 of the great fee debate, it's the investors' turn to reassess their expectations regarding management and performance fees, and to understand what it takes to find (and pay for) top managers.
How could a managed fund lose 96.5% of its value and then gain 767%, to become both the worst and best performing fund in Australia? From financial crisis to recovery, the answer is in the timing and the structure.
Securitisation and the increased sophistication of the real estate industry have led to new ways to repackage property assets as investment opportunities - each with vastly different risk, return and liquidity features.
There are many investment options for children beyond a savings account, but the merits of each are different for everyone. Here's some guidance for parents of both younger and older kids.
Company releases relating to acquisitions, mergers or divestments, by nature, have the objective of painting a positive outlook. A deeper dive into the facts allows us to make more educated investment decisions.
There are more than a few similarities between running and investing. Success in either discipline is about having specific goals and strategies, avoiding the big risks, and not diverting from your plan.
Most investors seek re-assurance, certainty, confidence, comfort and rational explanations from finance professionals, but what they often get is jargon-laden confusion. We have much to learn about effective communication.
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.
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.
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.
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.