In May, the AI stocks continued to lead the charge, pushing stock markets higher. Our international portfolio outperformed given our exposure to those themes, our tactical portfolios outperformed as international stocks rose considerably more than Australia stocks.

The stock market is convinced, maybe rightly, that the US central bank will bail them out if anything goes wrong. In April, the concern was that if inflation got out of hand then the central bank support might be limited. This was enough to see a tumble in stock markets. But in a big-picture sense, ...

February was a strong month for all of our portfolios. Markets continue to rally and our heavy overweight to international stocks continues to support performance. International stocks are up almost 30% over the last 12 months vs Australia less than 10%. Our direct index international portfolio, ...

January saw another big rise in international stocks. Expectations of a soft landing have become entrenched as falling inflation encourages markets to dream big. The broader (~1,500 stock) MSCI index rose 4.5% over the month, up 24.7% over the year. The more concentrated S&P Global 100 was up ...

December saw equities take off into a Santa rally, although the rising Australian dollar tempered international stocks for Australian investors. Expectations of a soft landing have become entrenched as falling inflation encourages markets to dream.

November saw a sharp rebound in both bonds and equities. Expectations of a soft landing have become entrenched as falling inflation encourages markets to dream.

October is known as a month of heightened volatility, and this year it didn't disappoint. Returns swung from +3.5% to -3% before settling in the red at -1%. This is the third consecutive month of negative stock market returns, and while our tactical portfolios were not exempt, they all performed ...

September, historically a bearish month, once again proved true to form as all indexes were in retreat once the Fed indicated that interest rates are to stay stronger for longer. While our more defensively positioned Tactical portfolios outperformed their benchmarks they couldn't cushion all the ...

August proved to be a volatile month with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 Indices posting their first monthly declines since February. Our more defensively positioned Tactical portfolios consequently outperformed their benchmarks as our large cash positioning meant we were able to avoid the negative ...

During the year to July, our Core Australian and Core International equity portfolios outperformed their benchmark, bolstered again by our defensive and underweight resources and bank stock exposures. That trend reversed in July though, as the most beaten-down stocks rallied. Our tactical ...