Graham Hand

We interviewed Sir Michael Hintze while his credit-focused hedge fund CQS was at the height of its powers. Since then, he’s changed the firm’s investment strategy and found a buyer in Canadian giant, Manulife.

Confirmation bias is seeking information which is consistent with your beliefs, and everyone from fund managers to investors to politicians does it. Treasurer Chalmers uses superannuation balances over $100 million to justify his new $3 million tax but what about analysis of inequality in Australia?

Retiring means your salary stops and you need to fund your lifestyle using savings plus any Age Pension income entitlements. Here are some suggestions about the best ways to make the money last through retirement.

Australians don’t need dodgy schemes in Caribbean islands to hide their wealth. There are plenty of legal ways to avoid paying tax but they will leave personal income tax carrying a heavy burden for future generations.

My wife and I are back in Europe, 40 years after our first backpacking trip through the continent. Though we’ve returned many times in between, we reflect on what’s changed about European travel, the good and bad.

Like negative gearing, discounted capital gains tax, especially on residential investment properties, is criticised for giving investors an edge over first-home buyers. A discount is justified but at what level?

The 500th Edition of Firstlinks includes a free eBook where 30 fund managers reveal the key part of their investment process, two external views on the 10-year journey, and our first Reader Survey for years. Plus more on the $3 million tax and where super money may go.

To mark the 500th Edition, extracts from two publications give context to the development of Firstlinks. Greg Bright brings an authoritative voice in a forthcoming book, while Telum Media asks about the content.

The Government is preparing the ground for changes relating to both superannuation and personal taxation. The tax amendments in the coming Budget may be modest but several critical areas face greater scrutiny.

Are super fund allocations to private markets a form of ‘volatility laundering’ as one commentator suggests? Perhaps, but it’s crucial to distinguish between different segments of private markets for a complete picture.

Ask 400,000 people to toss a coin and there will be 200,000 tails and 200,000 heads. If the game continues, one person versus another, after 15 tosses, about a dozen winning flippers will remain. They become the tossing experts explaining their success. They have an instinct for it. Is funds management different?

The ATO Commissioner called large super balances “accidents of history” but the industry has rolled over on a $5 million cap. Wealth compounds remarkably over decades and long-term saving should be encouraged.

LIC discounts can be a pain for existing investors but an opportunity for new buyers. To avoid further losses from discount widening or buy/sell spreads, hold for the long term and enjoy the increased income flow.

The best feature of stockmarkets - the liquidity at public prices - is also the worst, as it offers investors a chance to respond to every bit of noise. Plus the next big thing in OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Thornhill on dividends.

The beginning of the year and the end of a sabbatical is an ideal time to review a retirement portfolio, and it’s a highly personal exercise. Jack Bogle of Vanguard explains his own view on how much is ‘enough’, and we should stop complaining about investment performance in 2022.

Global markets were dragged down in 2022 by the trifactor of multi-decade high inflation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and China’s COVID-zero policy. While almost every major asset class took a sizeable hit last year, Australian equities presented a different story.

The majority of Listed Investment Companies trade at a discount to the value of their underlying assets, which may be good for buyers but annoying for sellers. Managers struggle to remove the discount, as explained on ASX:MGF.

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.

Wealth equals income minus ego. Here are three stories about how ego can affect decision-making, starting with how America once planned to nuclear bomb the moon, and some tips on how to tame overconfidence to become a better investor.

The vast majority of investors have lost money in 2022, even in conservative assets. Residential property is falling, equities are well down and bond losses are surprisingly high. It’s difficult to take on new risks in the face of negative returns on nearly all assets, but at some point, investors n…