Basis Points

“No client wants to be scaled. ” So how do you grow an advice business without making clients feel that they’re just a number? In this episode, we explore how Evalesco balances efficiency, scale, and deep personalisation to serve their “ millionaire next door ” client base. Ren sat down with Jeff Thurecht (CEO) and Marshall Brentnall (CIO) to hear how they scaled an advice business with a strong c...

Australia's corporate bond market has quietly become the third largest in the world, and signs point towards more growth to come.   With offshore giants tapping local liquidity and the AI infrastructure boom demanding trillions in new capital globally, Australia's fixed income market is no longer a niche corner of the capital market- it’s globally relevant. So what kind of opportunities...

Today’s guest believes investors should rethink risk, and be wary of confusing calm waters with safety.   In this episode, we speak to founder and CIO at Auscap Asset Management, Tim Carleton- and he does not hold back. He unpacks the flaws he sees in how private markets are valued, questions the sustainability of private credit and declares that three out of the four Big Banks in Australia h...

Is the next decades biggest growth story hiding in plain sight? Bryce and Ren sit down with Vern du Preez, Investment Specialist at Orbis Investments, to explore the new face of emerging markets and why it’s time to challenge old assumptions. They discuss: •Where to find real opportunity as China cools. •Using the active edge in emerging markets.  •How to capture Emerging market upside while...

AI and digital media are reshaping financial advice. Advisors now need to offer transparency, harness technology, and engage with clients in new ways or risk losing out on a new generation of clients. In this episode, we speak with Owen Raszkiewicz, founder of the Rask Group, who is leveraging these shifts to build a practice that leans into the future of financial advice. It’s a practical look at...

Beating the market doesn’t always mean chasing growth. Sometimes, it means means falling less when markets turn. Defensive equities aim to capture 80% of the upside, but only 50% of the downside- a profile designed to compound steadily and keep clients invested through volatility. Bryce and Ren speak with Hamish Fitzsimons, CIO of Australian Equities at AllianceBernstein, about how advisors can us...

For the first time, Australia’s largest family offices now hold more in private markets than in public equities.  It’s a shift that’s reshaping portfolio construction. So how can advisors respond?  In this episode, Bryce is joined by Jordan Ryan, Private Wealth Advisor at Koda Capital, to discuss the role private assets should play in client portfolios and the realities of educating clie...

Investors are facing a hole in their portfolio. Bank hybrids have been a popular product for retail investors, with 40% of the $40 billion market taken up by everyday Australians.  Now with APRA phasing out bank hybrids, advisers face a $16 billion hole to fill in client portfolios.  In this episode, we ask Helen Mason, Portfolio Manager at Schroders, where advisors can look to fill it?&...

Banks, miners and franking credits. Australian investors summed up in five words. But as the first 6 months of 2025 come to an end, the top of the ASX during this time has been characterised by a struggling resources sector and a strong rotation into banks. Is this the start of a longer term shift? Or is it just a blip? In this episode, we're joined by Will Curtayne, Portfolio Manager of the Milfo...

What makes a good fund manager? That is one of the hardest questions to answer in finance. Today's guest is as well placed as any to help us work through it. Chris Cuffe AO is the founding director and portfolio manager of Third Link. Chris was formerly CEO of investment managers Colonial First State and Challenger Financial Services Group. He was also previously the Chairman of UniSuper. Basicall...

After more than 30 years experience in financial markets, Ben Griffiths, has learned a thing or two. As investing fads come and go, and different industries rise and fall, we wanted to unpack the lessons and techniques that have stood the test of time. Ben Griffiths, Managing Director at Eley Griffiths Group, is a well-known small cap investor in Australia. His flagship fund has averaged more than...

"In hindsight it will be clear that this was an opportunity" That is a quote from today's interview with Simon Skinner, Head of the Global Investment Team at Orbis Investments. Investors have notoriously short memories, always chasing the last bull market and learning lessons from recent history. In today's episode, Simon wants us to take a step back and look at the lessons from the longer arc of...

Today we're joined by Mugunthan Siva, Chief Investment Officer of India Avenue. India has become an increasingly popular market amongst Australian investors and advisers. And who could blame them? With the Nifty 50 index up almost 150% over the past 5 years, it has been a good place for investors to be. But after such a strong run of performance, it had us wondering: is the India story closer to i...

21% per year, after fees, since November 2016. Today's guest is a fund manager who can let his performance speak for itself. Alex Pollak, Chief Investment Officer at Loftus Peak, has built a reputation for investing on the cutting-edge of disruption. And no doubt, US tech has been a good place to invest over the past decade. But a lot of Australian fund managers have invested in that space, few ha...

Recorded at the Morningstar Investor Conference, today we're joined by Felicity Walsh, Managing Director, Australia & New Zealand at Franklin Templeton. Private equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, cryptocurrency, gold. Alternative assets have never been more in demand. With minimum investments coming down and fund structures becoming more liquid, they've never more more access...

Recorded at the Morningstar Investor Conference, today we're joined by Kunal Kapoor, CEO of Morningstar Global. Australia always lags behind the US in technological adoption. So, with Kunal Kapoor out from Morningstar's global headquarters in Chicago, we wanted to hear how advisers in the US were adopting AI technology and what parts of an advice practice were seeing the most disruption. Suffice t...

Recorded at the Morningstar Investor Conference, today we're joined by Richard Quin, CIO & Principal at Bentham Asset Management. With President Trump in the White House and Liberation Day tariffs front-of-mind, markets have never been noisier. The challenge for advisers is separating the signal from the noise and focusing on what will matter long term. Today's guest has been focused on separa...

Today we're joined by Jonathon Costello, Client Portfolio Manager, Australian Fixed Interest at Janus Henderson . Equity markets and bond markets are telling different stories. If we look at equity markets, the outlook looks strong as markets rebounded from the Liberation Day falls. However, take a look over at the bond market and yields keep creeping higher despite rate cuts as fixed income inves...

Navigating the sea of opportunities in Australian small caps is always a challenge. While the Australian Small Ordinaries index has averaged 6% p.a. for the past 10 years, there have been some huge winners that have emerged from the sea of unprofitable companies, mining explorers and companies trying to figure it out. Today we are joined by Roland Houghton, Co-Portfolio Manager of the Milford Dyna...

The majority of investors are underweight the UK. The country has struggled through a decade of slow economic growth as it manages the legacy of Brexit and the FTSE 100 is full of companies that are seen as "ex-growth" or "old economy". Which is why we were surprised to hear that Stephen Arnold of Aoris Investment Management is overweight the UK, with 5 of his 14 positions coming from this overloo...

Investing is as much behavioural as it is academic. Some of the smartest investors and advisers have found themselves undone as they lose their mind in the noise of markets. Today's guest wants us to take a deep breath, recognise our cognitive biases and focus on the principles of good long-term investing. Today we're joined by Alec Cutler, Director at Orbis Investments and manager of the Orbis Gl...

Asset consultants have been a huge rise in prominence alongside the rise of SMAs. One person who has been on the forefront of this movement has been Angela Ashton, cofounder of Evergreen Consultants. Today we're joined by Angela to unpack: Best practice for advice firms working with asset consultants How to find the right consultant for your business Angela's bedrock rules of portfolio constructio...

Today we're joined by Rob Mead, Managing Director and co-Head of Asia-Pacific Portfolio Management at PIMCO. PIMCO is one of the world's largest investment managers, managing trillions of dollars in fixed-income securities for clients. So they are well placed to give us a sense of the economy and where that may lead markets and rates for the rest of 2025. Today we speak to Rob about: The state of...

Investing is an expectations game, and today’s guest wants to help you get the probabilities in your favour Today we're joined by Matt Wacher, Chief Investment Officer for Asia-Pacific at Morningstar. In our conversation, we cover: Why investing should be thought of as an expectations game How we can identify the expectations investors have for different companies and markets Why Matt likes findin...

Today we're joined by two guests from Cboe Australia: Emma Quinn (President, Cboe Australia) and Oran D'Arcy (Head of Listings, APAC) We speak to Emma and Oran about: Cboe Australia's role in Australia's financial markets The rise of ETFs and where Australians are investing The trends Cboe have witnessed overseas that they're seeing come to Australia. ---------- CPD Points: This episode has been a...