Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.
20 April 2025
Recently trending
Reader: "Congratulations on a great focussed news source. Australia has a dearth of good quality unbiased financial and wealth management news."
Jonathan Hoyle, CEO, Stanford Brown: "A fabulous publication. The only must-read weekly publication for the Australian wealth management industry."
Reader: "Keep it up - the independence is refreshing and is demonstrated by the variety of well credentialed commentators."
Reader: "Best innovation I have seen whilst an investor for 25 years. The writers are brilliant. A great publication which I look forward to."
Reader: "I can quickly sort the items that I am interested in, then research them more fully. It is also a regular reminder that I need to do this."
Rob Henshaw: "When I open my computer each day it's the first link I click - a really great read."
Steve: "The best that comes into our world each week. This is the only one that is never, ever canned before fully being reviewed by yours truly."
Eleanor Dartnall, AFA Adviser of the Year, 2014: "Our clients love your newsletter. Your articles are avidly read by advisers and they learn a great deal."
Ian Silk, CEO, AustralianSuper: "It has become part of my required reading: quality thinking, and (mercifully) to the point."
Professor Robert Deutsch: "This has got to be the best set of articles on economic and financial matters. Always something worthwhile reading in Firstlinks. Thankyou"
Scott Pape, author of The Barefoot Investor: "I'm an avid reader of Cuffelinks. Thanks for the wonderful resource you have here, it really is first class."
Reader: "Love it, just keep doing what you are doing. It is the right length too, any longer and it might become a bit overwhelming."
Reader: "Is one of very few places an investor can go and not have product rammed down their throat. Love your work!"
Reader: "I subscribe to two newsletters. This is my first read of the week. Thank you. Excellent and please keep up the good work!"
Reader: "Carry on as you are - well done. The average investor/SMSF trustee needs all the help they can get."
Don Stammer, leading Australian economist: "Congratulations to all associated. It deserves the good following it has."
Reader: "The BEST in the game because of diversity and not aligned to financial products. Stands above all the noise."
Reader: "An island of professionalism in an ocean of shallow self-interest. Well done!"
Australian Investors Association: "Australia's foremost independent financial newsletter for professionals and self-directed investors."
Noel Whittaker, author and financial adviser: "A fabulous weekly newsletter that is packed full of independent financial advice."
Reader: " Finding a truly independent and interesting read has been magical for me. Please keep it up and don't change!"
Ian Kelly, CFP, BTACS Financial Services: "Probably the best source of commentary and information I have seen over the past 20 years."
Reader: "Great resource. Cuffelinks is STILL the one and only weekly newsletter I regularly read."
Reader: "It's excellent so please don't pollute the content with boring mainstream financial 'waffle' and adverts for stuff we don't want!"
John Egan, Egan Associates: "My heartiest congratulations. Your panel of contributors is very impressive and keep your readers fully informed."
David Goldschmidt, Chartered Accountant: "I find this a really excellent newsletter. The best I get. Keep up the good work!"
John Pearce, Chief Investment Officer, Unisuper: "Out of the (many many) investmentrelated emails I get, Cuffelinks is one that I always open."
Andrew Buchan, Partner, HLB Mann Judd: "I have told you a thousand times it's the best newsletter."
The ASX is exploring the introduction of dual class share structures for listed companies. Opposition is building to the plan but the ASX should ignore the naysayers and bring Australia into line with its global peers.
A resurgent Japanese stock market has a new generation of investors asking if shareholder-friendly governance reform is finally embedded into corporate culture there. This explores the issue and what it means for investors.
Australian companies worth billions of dollars are slipping into private hands at an alarming rate. This explores what’s driving the takeover binge, why it’s a worry, and what needs to be done to fix the problem.
Private equity has had a stellar decade as low rates drove investors to search for higher returns in less liquid assets. Can inflows into the asset class continue? Can PE's outperformance versus public markets continue?
Temporary changes to capital raising regulations during the pandemic gave companies easier access to capital. The changes had a lasting impact on company behaviour though, to the benefit of retail investors.
In proposing to prevent certain franked distributions that are funded by capital raisings, the Government is addressing the wrong problem, and the solution lies in this week's 2022 Budget announcement on buybacks.
Listed companies often raise capital around the same time they pay dividends and return capital to shareholders, but proposed legislation may prevent companies paying franked dividends during a capital funding.
It was a joy ride while it lasted but the free money era could not last. The consequences of the misallocation of capital into poor companies is now playing out and shareholders face billions of dollars in losses.
Some conglomerates include hidden assets that the market is not valuing properly. It may take a demerger to show their worth and there are good reasons why these work. How do investors identify the best demergers?
Major changes are underway in the methods used to distribute bank hybrids. Investor cannot rely on the previous ways of buying hybrids at IPO and now must be 'sophisticated', react quickly and know a broker.
Cash flow statements differ from income statements and balance sheets, and every company must balance payments to investors versus investing into the business. Cash flows drive the value of the business.
Bonus options issued by Listed Investment Companies (LICs) deliver many advantages but there is a potential dilutionary impact if options are exercised well below the share price. This must be factored in.
The intergenerational wealth transfer, largely driven by a housing boom, exacerbates economic inequality, stifles productivity, and impedes social mobility. Solutions lie in addressing the housing problem, not taxing wealth.
With an election due by 17 May, we are effectively in campaign mode with the Government announcing numerous spending promises since January and the Coalition often matching them. Here's what the election means for investors.
With fixed term deposit rates declining and bank hybrids being phased out, what are the best options for investors seeking income? This goes through the choices, and the opportunities and risks involved.
The S&P 500's recent correction raises concerns about a bear market. History shows corrections are driven by high rates, unemployment, or global shocks, and that there's reason for optimism for nervous investors today.
The famed investor says the rapid switch from globalisation to trade wars is the biggest upheaval in the investing environment since World War Two. And a new world requires a different investment approach.
Trump's tariffs and China's retaliatory strike have sent the Nasdaq into a bear market with the S&P 500 not far behind. What are the implications for the economy and markets, and what should investors do now?