WestPac Wealth Investments

Is this time different? With Treasury yields high and a midterm election weeks away, it's the question advisor Joe DeLisi has been hearing by email and phone all fall. Recording on Thursday 24 September, with markets red across the board, Joe takes the worry seriously. He doesn't dismiss the national debt or the headlines. He goes back instead. Six times since 1966, a midterm election ar...

Are high-income earners confusing tax deferral with tax avoidance? In this episode, we take a closer look at one of the biggest financial planning mistakes that can affect high-income business owners, executives, and W-2 employees: continually deferring taxes without considering what that future tax liability could look like. Tax deferral can be a valuable strategy, but it doesn’t make the tax dis...

Can AI Beat the Market? The Truth About AI, Investing & Human Behavior Can artificial intelligence be a better investor than a human? And more importantly, can AI actually beat the market? In this episode of the Westpac Wealth Investments Podcast , we take a closer look at the growing role of artificial intelligence in investing and separate what AI can realistically do from what investors may...

In this episode of the WestPac Wealth Investments Podcast, Joe DeLisi welcomes Neal Brinsfield RICP®, CLU®, ChFC®, CExP™ for a conversation about financial planning, cash flow, risk, and what it really takes to create greater confidence around your financial future. Neal has spent nearly two decades in the financial services industry and has helped train and coach financial advisors on the Living...

Choosing a financial advisor is one of the most important financial decisions you'll make—but are you asking the right questions? In this episode of the WestPac Wealth Investments Podcast, Joe DeLisi explores the conversations every investor should have with their advisor before making long-term financial decisions. From investment philosophy and portfolio construction to tax strategies, reti...

Every market cycle brings a new wave of predictions, headlines, and reasons to believe that "this time is different." But how accurate are those forecasts once the dust settles? In this episode of the WestPac Wealth Podcast, Joe DeLisi revisits several of the most talked-about market predictions from the past year—including concerns surrounding tariffs, volatility, and broader economic u...

Markets often reward what's popular...until they don't. In this episode of the WestPac Wealth Investments Podcast, Joe DeLisi explores the recent pullback in many of the market's largest technology companies and what it means for investors. While tech has delivered exceptional returns over the past decade, history reminds us that leadership in the market eventually changes. Joe expl...

Did you miss the boat on SpaceX? With private companies staying private longer and high-profile IPOs generating enormous excitement, many investors wonder if they've missed their chance at extraordinary returns. In this episode, Joe DeLisi explores why the fear of missing out can lead investors away from sound decision-making and toward unnecessary risk. Drawing on nearly three decades of exp...

What are the rules that should never be broken when building an investment portfolio? In this episode of the WestPac Wealth Investments Podcast, Joe DeLisi shares the investment principles he considers non-negotiable. Drawing a parallel between successful business operations and successful investing, Joe explains why disciplined portfolio construction matters and why "winging it" is rare...

In this episode, Joe DeLisi shares the story behind the investment philosophy that guides his work today and why it took years to fully develop. From his early days entering the financial industry without a finance degree to discovering evidence-based investing, Joe explains the experiences that changed how he thinks about markets, portfolio construction, and long-term investing. Joe also discusse...

In this episode of the Westpac Wealth Investment Podcast, host Joe Dalisi sits down with Nash Subotic, Founder and CEO of WestPac Wealth Partners, to dive deep into the firm’s investment philosophy and how it drives better long-term outcomes for clients. Nash shares the core principles that guide Westpac Wealth’s portfolios: Why a long-term, history-driven, science-based approach beats short-term...

Headlines about Iran and the Strait of Hormuz have many investors asking the same question: What does this mean for my money? In this episode, we explore how geopolitical risk can impact markets, why uncertainty is always part of investing, and how a disciplined long-term strategy can help investors avoid costly emotional decisions.

In Part 2 of our Next Generation series, we continue the conversation around how young adults can begin making sound financial decisions early, before costly mistakes take root. Today’s environment presents more access to information than ever before, yet many young investors still lack clarity on what truly drives long-term success. In this episode, we focus on the foundational principles that ma...

Many long-time clients eventually reach a new stage of life, when their children become young adults and begin making financial decisions of their own. In this episode, Joe DeLisi discusses a growing trend he has seen over the past several years: parents asking their advisor to speak with their adult children about money, careers, and financial responsibility. These conversations look very differe...

With headlines about rising tensions between the United States and Iran, many investors are asking the same question: What does this mean for my portfolio? In this episode, Joe takes a break from the usual studio setting to address the uncertainty surrounding global conflict and the impact it may—or may not—have on financial markets. Rather than focusing on politics or speculation, Joe looks at th...

In a recent episode, Joe shared a story about “the worst decision a client ever made” — and the response was bigger than expected. But some listeners walked away with the wrong takeaway. In this follow-up, Joe clears it up. This episode breaks down the real difference between owning an individual stock and owning the broader market through an index like the S&P 500. What actually happens if a...

Is low-cost indexing enough? Or are investors missing the bigger picture? Index funds have transformed investing. They’re efficient, inexpensive, and widely accessible. But focusing solely on cost can oversimplify how portfolios actually generate returns. In this episode, we examine why the cheapest index fund may not represent a complete investment strategy. We discuss expected returns, risk prem...

If not for bad predictions, we might not have predictions at all. In this episode, Joe revisits a 2002 white paper titled “What Risk Premium Is Normal?” by Rob Arnott and uses it as a lens to examine one of the most persistent problems in investing: overconfidence in forecasts . From the “new economy” mindset of the late 1990s to today’s bold market projections, Joe breaks down why long-term retur...

Political headlines can create anxiety for investors, especially during election years. In this episode of the WestPac Wealth Investments Podcast , Joe DeLisi explains how politics and markets actually interact. Joe reviews historical market data across multiple election cycles and presidential administrations to show how markets have behaved during periods of political uncertainty. He also discus...

In this episode of the WestPac Wealth Investments podcast, Joe discusses the importance of budgeting, introducing his concept of the '30 Second Budget.' He emphasizes the simplicity of budgeting while acknowledging the challenges of execution. Joe breaks down the budgeting process into key components: income, taxes, giving, and savings, and stresses the importance of saving for the futur...

On this episode of the WestPac Investment Podcast , Joe DeLisi walks through the single most damaging mistake he’s seen clients make, and why it rarely has anything to do with markets, returns, or timing. Instead, Joe explains how emotional decision-making, abandoning a disciplined process, and reacting to short-term fear can quietly erode long-term wealth. This episode is a practical reminder tha...

In this episode of WestPac Wealth Investments , Joe tackles one of the most common investor questions: do elections and politics really move the markets? Drawing from historical data and his decades of experience, Joe explores whether party control, campaign cycles, and government policies truly determine portfolio performance—or if emotions and headlines are leading investors astray. It’s a groun...

History is full of brilliant people who made terrible investment decisions. In this episode, Joe DeLisi, Financial Advisor with WestPac Wealth Partners, explores how Isaac Newton and the Nobel Prize–winning economists behind Long-Term Capital Management both fell victim to speculation, leverage, and overconfidence. Joe explains why being “super smart” doesn’t automatically translate into good fina...

The names change, but the game stays the same. In this episode, Joe DeLisi shares what three decades in the investment world have taught him about Wall Street’s repeating patterns — the hype, the “new” products, and the inevitable fallout. From dot-com to crypto to today’s AI boom, Joe explains why “this time is not different,” and how disciplined, evidence-based investing helps protect real wealt...

While headlines focus on the government shutdown, the real story is the $37 trillion U.S. debt and what it means for investors. In this episode, Joe DeLisi, Senior Partner at WestPac Wealth Investments, explains how rising interest payments and persistent deficits affect market performance, tax policy, and long-term planning. Tune in for Joe DeLisi's perspective on debt, taxes, and strategies...