Insights

The 50 per cent capital gains tax (CGT) discount is gone, negative gearing has been quarantined, and SMSF property borrowing is all but finished but the measure that should be occupying advisers most hasn’t even made it into a bill.

Australian APRA-regulated super funds manage more than $3 trillion in retirement savings through governance frameworks designed before dynamic asset allocation, private credit co-investment, and real-time geopolitical repricing became standard features of the investment landscape.

For much of the early 2000s and into the mid-2010s, private market secondaries were viewed as a solution of last resort for when portfolios were distressed or when investors required early liquidity. Today, that perception has shifted markedly, and secondaries are recognised as a strategic component of portfolio management, supporting liquidity, rebalancing, concentration management and value extension.

For decades, superannuation was Australia’s ultimate long-term wealth engine. High-income earners and business owners were encouraged to maximise contributions, invest for growth, and let compounding (backed by generous tax concessions) quietly build their retirement wealth.

Over the past decade, Australia’s superannuation funds have steadily reshaped their portfolios in response to low yields, market volatility and changing global growth patterns. Where listed equities and bonds once dominated, many large funds now hold substantial allocations to unlisted alternatives which have become a key engine of long-term returns for members.

When it comes to finding a culprit for environmental degradation, cars are often used as a golden standard.

But what about the steak we so often wash down with a glass of red?

Less than half of Australians know what their superannuation balances are despite having almost a tenth of each paycheck directed into their account, and that’s a big problem regardless of how default funds are chosen.

If you are one of the 73 per cent of Australians who are unaware of their credit score, or are among the 2.7 million too scared to check it, your unawareness and financial fear could be costing you.

What is a credit score?

It is now clear the global economy is stuttering.

Stockmarkets are showing signs of a downturn and investors are nervous.


Central banks are also worried.

Earlier in the month, four countries – Thailand, New Zealand, India and the Philippines – cut their official rates, while the US cut its interest rate at the end of July. It is expected that more nations will soon start cutting their interest rates.

When it comes to stimulating the economy, cutting the interest rate any further will only take us closer to the uncharted territories of zero or negative interest rates.

Investing in public projects or even showering money from above are far more viable options.

The legal landscape in Australia is constantly transforming, defining the contours of a new legal order. Amidst the rift between those who want to preserve the profession and those who want to embrace innovation, it is crucial not to forget who the real arbitrators are of what is innovative, writes lawyer Arthur Marusevich.

When the High Court sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns unanimously held that Senators Malcolm Roberts, Fiona Nash, Scott Ludlam, Larissa Waters and the Honourable Barnaby Joyce MP were ineligible to be elected, very few anticipated the start of the avalanche.

On 15 November 2017, when the High Court sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns handed down its decision in Re Nash [No 2] [2017] HCA 52, it became clear that the 2016 general election was not yet over; for the third time in little over a year, the Australian Electoral Commission would recount the 2016 ballot papers. The Court held that Ms. Hollie Hughes, who by a special count of the 2016 election ballot papers was identified as the next entitled candidate to replace Senator Nash following her disqualification from the Senate, was herself ineligible to be elected under s 44(iv) of the Constitution.