The secret inquiry into Mike Pezzullo’s conduct is no longer secret. After an 18-month FOI battle, Rex Patrick can reveal just how serious his misconduct was and his sacking inevitable. This is the first in a series of articles. The report’s writer, former Australian Public Service (APS) Commissioner Lynelle Briggs,
The economic impacts of the war in Iran continue to dominate headlines. Investors are following their typical playbook and rushing into the ‘obvious’ winners of the turmoil in the Middle East.
For instance, there are higher oil prices. Over the previous month the following energy companies have performed well:
Exxon Mobil is up 12.44%
Chevron is up ...
Queensland taxpayers were last week treated to new glossy images portraying how $3.5 billion of their money (more realistically double or triple that) will be spent on refashioning one of Brisbane’s most significant inner-city parklands (there aren’t many) into a concrete and turf mecca for professional sports clubs.
We were led to believe this was ...
The University of Wollongong has shed hundreds of jobs with leaders claiming financial hardship, despite good cash flow and thriving consultants. Adam Lucas and James Guthrie report. This week’s Four Corners episode drew attention to the consultancy binge at Australia’s public universities. Severe, arguably unnecessary, job cuts, course closures, and
As record heatwaves and bushfires yet again coincide with devastating floods across Australia, the impacts of global warming feel very close to home. So, it is a welcome relief that the Australian economy seems to have finally reached a tipping point in its transition to renewable energy. The country’s two largest electricity grids are now powered by ...
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released the average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) and consumer price index (CPI) figures which are used to determine key superannuation rates and thresholds that will apply from 1 July 2026. This article outlines the rates and thresholds that are changing and those that aren’t. It also explains key ...
In 1971, an uncle of Don Brash, the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from 1988 to 2002, invested the proceeds from selling his fruit farm in 18-year government bonds yielding 5.4%. At that time, the uncle’s NZ$30,000 could buy 11 four-cylinder cars.
But when the bonds matured in 1989 the NZ$30,000 could buy only one of those cars. Inflation, ...
UniSuper members have started a mass divestment campaign against the fund, citing investments in weapons companies and organisations complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide and occupation. Stephanie Tran reports. UniSuper, which manages approximately $166B on behalf of more than 680,000 members, is the industry superfund for employees in Australia’s ...
Audio: Listen to this article
Recently, Firstlinks published an article comparing the performance of LICs and ETFs. It concluded that LICs have generally underperformed their ETF peers over a range of timeframes.
That may be true in some cases.
But before we draw that conclusion, there is a more fundamental question that needs to be addressed: Are we ...
For decades, investors and academics have been locked in a hunt for alpha—the holy grail of risk-adjusted returns that can’t be explained by known market factors. The quest has grown so frenzied it spawned what John Cochrane famously called the factor zoo: a sprawling menagerie of hundreds of documented anomalies, each claiming to produce excess ...
Diversification is one of investing’s oldest principles—and, arguably, one of its most misunderstood.
Most client portfolios today appear well diversified. They span regions, sectors, and often include multiple managers and strategies. On the surface, they look balanced.
But appearances can be misleading.
Look beneath the labels, and many portfolios ...
When we think about the current volatility, we are reminded of a prescient quote from Russian revolutionary and president Vladmir Lenin:
“There are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen.”
Time will tell whether the Iran war is indeed one of these periods where decades happened.
As for markets domestically, higher oil ...
The secret inquiry into Mike Pezzullo’s conduct is no longer secret. After an 18-month FOI battle, Rex Patrick can reveal just how serious his misconduct was and his sacking inevitable. This is the first in a series of articles. The report’s writer, former Australian Public Service (APS) Commissioner Lynelle Briggs,
The economic impacts of the war in Iran continue to dominate headlines. Investors are following their typical playbook and rushing into the ‘obvious’ winners of the turmoil in the Middle East.
For instance, there are higher oil prices. Over the previous month the following energy companies have performed well:
Exxon Mobil is up 12.44%
Chevron is up ...
Queensland taxpayers were last week treated to new glossy images portraying how $3.5 billion of their money (more realistically double or triple that) will be spent on refashioning one of Brisbane’s most significant inner-city parklands (there aren’t many) into a concrete and turf mecca for professional sports clubs.
We were led to believe this was ...
The University of Wollongong has shed hundreds of jobs with leaders claiming financial hardship, despite good cash flow and thriving consultants. Adam Lucas and James Guthrie report. This week’s Four Corners episode drew attention to the consultancy binge at Australia’s public universities. Severe, arguably unnecessary, job cuts, course closures, and
As record heatwaves and bushfires yet again coincide with devastating floods across Australia, the impacts of global warming feel very close to home. So, it is a welcome relief that the Australian economy seems to have finally reached a tipping point in its transition to renewable energy. The country’s two largest electricity grids are now powered by ...
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released the average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) and consumer price index (CPI) figures which are used to determine key superannuation rates and thresholds that will apply from 1 July 2026. This article outlines the rates and thresholds that are changing and those that aren’t. It also explains key ...
In 1971, an uncle of Don Brash, the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from 1988 to 2002, invested the proceeds from selling his fruit farm in 18-year government bonds yielding 5.4%. At that time, the uncle’s NZ$30,000 could buy 11 four-cylinder cars.
But when the bonds matured in 1989 the NZ$30,000 could buy only one of those cars. Inflation, ...
UniSuper members have started a mass divestment campaign against the fund, citing investments in weapons companies and organisations complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide and occupation. Stephanie Tran reports. UniSuper, which manages approximately $166B on behalf of more than 680,000 members, is the industry superfund for employees in Australia’s ...
Audio: Listen to this article
Recently, Firstlinks published an article comparing the performance of LICs and ETFs. It concluded that LICs have generally underperformed their ETF peers over a range of timeframes.
That may be true in some cases.
But before we draw that conclusion, there is a more fundamental question that needs to be addressed: Are we ...
For decades, investors and academics have been locked in a hunt for alpha—the holy grail of risk-adjusted returns that can’t be explained by known market factors. The quest has grown so frenzied it spawned what John Cochrane famously called the factor zoo: a sprawling menagerie of hundreds of documented anomalies, each claiming to produce excess ...
Diversification is one of investing’s oldest principles—and, arguably, one of its most misunderstood.
Most client portfolios today appear well diversified. They span regions, sectors, and often include multiple managers and strategies. On the surface, they look balanced.
But appearances can be misleading.
Look beneath the labels, and many portfolios ...
When we think about the current volatility, we are reminded of a prescient quote from Russian revolutionary and president Vladmir Lenin:
“There are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen.”
Time will tell whether the Iran war is indeed one of these periods where decades happened.
As for markets domestically, higher oil ...