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21 January 2025
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It’s one of Australia’s oldest listed investment companies, yet few investors have heard of it. While LICs like Australian Foundation Investment Company and Argo Investments grab the limelight, Whitefield prefers low key.
Stop whinging! Analysts are describing markets in 2022 as 'brutal' or 'terrible', but total returns in Australian stock markets were up and balanced funds were down only slightly. It was not that bad.
While ETFs and passive funds continue to attract flows, the move in the June 2022 quarter is to Australian equities and fixed interest. Local investors have reduced the impact of larger falls in global markets.
Why invest in an unlisted fund when the listed version of the same fund is priced at a discount? Why hold a listed version at a premium when the unlisted version is cheaper? Find the best way to invest.
Equity funds tend to receive most attention, and the media focuses on fund themes and new ideas. Surprising to many, fixed income is typically the quiet achiever in the Australian retail asset management industry.
Over eight years since February 2013, Firstlinks has become a leading financial newsletter, publishing thousands of articles from hundreds of writers. To mark this milestone, 45 experts have joined the celebration for our 400th edition bringing their best investing ideas for the next few years.
Many investors use the new year to review their portfolios, and in this free ebook, two dozen fund managers and product providers give their best ideas for 2021 - some stocks, some funds, some sectors.
Structuring an investment team around geography or sectors leads to manager bias in poor sectors. Better to focus on a few areas of fascination where product and business expertise can develop.
Emerging market indices have become poor representations of the investment opportunities in that asset class. Should Taiwan and South Korea still be there? And which newly emerging markets are missing?
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.