Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.
26 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."
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: "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."
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: "Great resource. Cuffelinks is STILL the one and only weekly newsletter I regularly read."
Ian Silk, CEO, AustralianSuper: "It has become part of my required reading: quality thinking, and (mercifully) to the point."
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: "Keep it up - the independence is refreshing and is demonstrated by the variety of well credentialed commentators."
John Pearce, Chief Investment Officer, Unisuper: "Out of the (many many) investmentrelated emails I get, Cuffelinks is one that I always open."
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."
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"
Reader: "Carry on as you are - well done. The average investor/SMSF trustee needs all the help they can get."
Reader: "It's excellent so please don't pollute the content with boring mainstream financial 'waffle' and adverts for stuff we don't want!"
Reader: "Is one of very few places an investor can go and not have product rammed down their throat. Love your work!"
Don Stammer, leading Australian economist: "Congratulations to all associated. It deserves the good following it has."
Reader: "An island of professionalism in an ocean of shallow self-interest. Well done!"
John Egan, Egan Associates: "My heartiest congratulations. Your panel of contributors is very impressive and keep your readers fully informed."
Ian Kelly, CFP, BTACS Financial Services: "Probably the best source of commentary and information I have seen over the past 20 years."
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."
Andrew Buchan, Partner, HLB Mann Judd: "I have told you a thousand times it's the best newsletter."
David Goldschmidt, Chartered Accountant: "I find this a really excellent newsletter. The best I get. Keep up the good work!"
Australian Investors Association: "Australia's foremost independent financial newsletter for professionals and self-directed investors."
Reader: " Finding a truly independent and interesting read has been magical for me. Please keep it up and don't change!"
Reader: "The BEST in the game because of diversity and not aligned to financial products. Stands above all the noise."
Noel Whittaker, author and financial adviser: "A fabulous weekly newsletter that is packed full of independent financial advice."
Rob Henshaw: "When I open my computer each day it's the first link I click - a really great read."
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."
Jonathan Hoyle, CEO, Stanford Brown: "A fabulous publication. The only must-read weekly publication for the Australian wealth management industry."
The rise of passive investing is unlikely to derail the value of quantitative strategies. Passive investing hasn’t eradicated the irrationality of crowds, leaving pockets of opportunity to outperform indices.
Investors are overexposed to recent winners, namely large cap, growth stocks. As a whole, these stocks are exceptionally expensive, which means investors may need to switch strategies to outperform going forward.
After a hiatus last year, growth stocks are back in vogue as investors search for the 'next big thing'. That makes today's market environment unusually rich in attractive, high dividend-yielding companies.
There's been a 13-year runway of varying degrees of capital allocation that paid little attention to fundamentals and valuation. If there was ever a market environment when quality stocks are expected to perform, it's now.
As market uncertainty continues, it is more important than ever to have a sound investment process. To help with a long-term focus, it may be useful to have some guidelines to fall back on when the market noise gets too loud.
Equity investing comes with volatility that makes many retirees uncomfortable. A focus on income which is less volatile than share prices, and quality companies delivering robust earnings, offers more reassurance.
During this heightened uncertainty, Value stocks have performed relatively well, coinciding with higher inflation. Expensive Growth stocks, hit by slowing growth and materials shortages, have sold off. Where to now?
It's complicated. Rising bond yields reflect optimism about economic growth and improving business conditions. But as the recovery matures, increases in bond rates prove counter-productive, kerbing economic growth.
The traditional single-period measurement tools such as P/E or EV/EBITDA do not allow for cashflows looking out many years, which are needed to value great companies of the future such as Xilinx, Nvidia and Qualcomm.
The shift in dynamics from growth to value can be seen in the rotation of tech and communications names out of the top 20 performers to be replaced by value-style industrials, energy and financials. Will it continue?
By now, we know 'growth' stocks have outperformed 'value' for many years and investors look to the future, but there are good reasons why the switch is on, especially as value companies emerge from the pandemic.
As the world gradually emerges from the aftermath of COVID-19, many are questioning if now is value’s time to shine? How can value stocks deliver outperformance in today’s environment?
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?
Are you living your life by default or by design? It strikes me that many people are doing the former and living according to others’ expectations of them, leading to poor choices including with their finances.
Larry Fink is one of the smartest people in the finance industry. In his latest shareholder letter, the Blackrock CEO outlines his quest to become the biggest player in private assets and upend investor portfolios.