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21 January 2025
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Gaining exposure to share markets: active management versus low costs, smart beta, listed investment companies. What the NBN will mean for service providers. Long term investing. Postcard from Burma.
Beware the investor who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. While fees are important, fund managers should ultimately be evaluated based on their ability to add value to a portfolio.
Many capital management techniques are used by LICs in an attempt to narrow or eliminate the discount at which the price trades relative to net tangible assets – all with varying success.
Capital-weighted index funds have been providing investors with low cost exposure to equity markets for 40 years. Now we have the potential of smart beta to consider as an alternative to active and index funds.
Telstra’s competitive advantage in regional areas may be under threat after the National Broadband Network is rolled out because wholesale costs are expected to equalise for smaller retail service providers.
Long term investing makes sense for the majority of investors who have time on their side, but it isn’t always easy. Unexpected events will test your resolve so it’s important to know how to improve your chances.
Observations while cruising Burma's Irrawaddy River show how many people in the developing world earn their living. It's a reminder of how fortunate we are to live in a country with greater opportunities.
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.