Investing Compass

The most popular international equity ETFs in Australia are all starkly different. Which one is right for you and your goals? You can view the full article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest su...

Australia does not have an inheritance tax, but you can optimise your situation through your will to minimise overall tax paid. We lean on insights from estate planning expert Abbey John on how to structure efficiently. You can find the full article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. Get 50% off your first two mont...

We run through the company, what our analysts think of it, and our valuation. Our coverage on Space X can be found in the 'News & Analysis' section here . Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. Get 50% off your first two months of PocketSmith’s Foundation or Flourish plans here. A message from Mark and Shani For the past...

We take a closer look at the exposure you’re getting with some of the most popular ETFs in Australia. You can find the full article here. Shani's article on concentration is here . Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. Get 50% off your first two months of PocketSmith’s Foundation or Flourish plans here. A message from Mark...

Debt recycling at its core, is making your part of your mortgage tax deductible. Debt recycling can be an attractive strategy for those on higher marginal tax rates. Mark and Shani run through how to know whether it is right for you. You can find the full article here . Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. Get 50% off your...

Higher taxes on capital gains have shifted the relative attractiveness of investments, structures and strategies. We run through how investors should approach this. You can find Mark's article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. Get 50% off your first two months of PocketSmith’s Foundation or Flourish plans here. A...

You may be forgetting conditions that meaningfully change how much you need in retirement. Mark and Shani run through some of these conditions that may be applicable to you. You can find the article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. Get 50% off your first two months of PocketSmith’s Foundation or Flourish plans he...

We go through lessons for ASX stocks, ETFs and LICs that have delivered over the past decade. You can find Marks stock article here , and ETF and LIC article here . Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. Get 50% off your first two months of PocketSmith’s Foundation or Flourish plans here. A message from Mark and Shani For th...

Professional investors operate in a very different environment from individuals. Their careers, compensation, and business objectives are often tied to performance relative to a benchmark. They manage large pools of capital and are supported by teams of analysts, access to sophisticated data, and significant research resources. But those advantages also come with constraints that shape how they in...

After more than a decade where US technology stocks dominated global markets, late 2025 and early 2026 saw signs of a rotation. Less glamorous sectors like industrials and consumer staples, companies often considered ‘boring’ began to outperform the high-flying tech names that had captured investors’ attention for years. We revisit the work of Bob Haugen, a pioneering quantitative investor an...

Investors are often told that success comes from optimisation: lower fees, better tax outcomes, and the highest possible expected returns. In this episode we explore why the most efficient financial decision isn’t always the one that leads to the best life. You can find the full article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them...

Helping family members financially is common. Parents may contribute to a house deposit, grandparents might support education costs, or relatives may step in during difficult times. But financial gifts can have far reaching consequences that are easy to overlook. In this episode, we explore the key issues investors should consider before transferring money or assets to loved ones. You can find the...

Australia’s financial system - through tax policy, superannuation and retirement benchmarks implicitly assume that retirees own their own homes. Home ownership dramatically changes the amount Australians need to save for retirement. So, what if you don’t own and rent in retirement? This is an increasingly likely scenario for many Australians given the state of our housing market.  M...

The financial services industry tends to focus on how important it is to get started as early as possible. Starting to invest in your 20s provides a powerful advantage through compounding, but investors in their 30s, 40s and 50s have significant opportunities to build wealth and meaningfully improve financial outcomes. Mark and Shani look at how to harness these advantages. Read the full article h...

The issue with investing in broad market index products is that you are anything but a passive investor. Owning the market does not mean that you own everything equally. When you look closely, many of the most popular ETFs in Australia embed a set of structural bets that can materially shape outcomes over time. Mark and Shani run through these exposures in common passive ETFs, and alternatives for...

Mark and Shani discuss the lessons that investors can take from the GFC. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. You can read the full article here. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independe...

Mark and Shani discuss the lessons that investors can take from the GFC. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. You can read the full article here. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independe...

Morgan Housel's book Same As Ever has got Mark thinking - he runs through three underappreciated benefits of cash. You can find the full article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully....

Mark and Shani runs through what it would take for the typical Aussie to replace their salary with passive income.  You can find the full article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest su...

Mark runs through how he decided to change his super and what he changed it to. You can find the full article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide in...

Mr. Taxman, Adrian Raftery, listed 101 tax rules - Mark and Shani run through the ones that jumped out at Shani when she read the book. You can find the full article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to...

In this guest episode, we have James Gruber, Editor at Firstlinks. He has a debate with dividend lover Mark, about why he doesn't like dividends. You can find James' full article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with...

No one wants to think about what happens after you die, but a few steps can save your family a lot of pain at an already difficult time in their life. We run through three ways to make your family's life easier and give you peace of mind. You can find the full article here. Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here. A message fr...

Droneshield has had a meteoric rise - and fall. We take a look at the back story - what the company does, what impacted the share price and importantly - what lessons investors can take from this. Disclaimer: Neither Mark or Shani own Droneshield. Morningstar analysts do not cover this company. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with t...

We take a look at the market going into 2026, and how investors should think about the year ahead. A message from Mark and Shani For the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar. We’ve shared our j...