Lauren Ryan from Thinktank speaks to Laurence Parker-Brown from The Inside Network on how advisers can explain the liquidity vs volatility trade-off in private credit to clients.
Blog
-
INSight #459 with Rob Hinchliffe from PineBridge Investments
Rob Hinchliffe from PineBridge Investments, doesn’t agree with the traditional method of grouping companies by sectors. He speaks to James Dunn from The Inside Network on portfolio construction.
-
The future of advice: Adviser Insights with Scott Carmichael from Escala
How will the advice industry promote best practice with the great intergenerational wealth transfer? Scott Carmichael, partner at Escala, offers his insights on how young advisers have a crucial role in meeting the needs of the next generation in tone, technology and rapport, as wealth is passed from one generation to the next.
-
Daily Market Update: 29 October 2025
ASX declines as CSL and WiseTech drag the index lower
The Australian sharemarket fell on Tuesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) closing down 43.1 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 9012.5. Losses were led by sharp sell-offs in major healthcare and technology stocks, particularly CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and WiseTech Global Limited (ASX: WTC). CSL slumped 15.9 per cent after downgrading earnings and revenue forecasts and scrapping plans to spin off its vaccine unit. WiseTech shares also fell 15.9 per cent following raids by the Australian Federal Police and the corporate regulator in relation to alleged insider trading by its founder and three other employees. While six of the 11 sectors posted gains, the declines in key large-cap names overshadowed broader sector performance.Bank gains and takeover talk temper losses
The fall in gold prices triggered profit-taking in mining stocks such as Greatland Gold Limited (ASX: GGP), Capricorn Metals Limited (ASX: CMM), and Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM), as bullion dropped below $US4000 an ounce amid optimism over a potential US–China trade deal. Conversely, banking stocks rose strongly on hawkish signals from Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) up 1.4 per cent, National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB) up 2.5 per cent, Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) up 1 per cent, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ASX: ANZ) up 0.7 per cent. Meanwhile, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Limited (ASX: DMP) surged 17.4 per cent during the session on speculation of a takeover by Bain Capital, before closing up 7.2 per cent after the company denied receiving a formal bid. AUB Group Limited (ASX: AUB) climbed 5.9 per cent following news of a takeover proposal, while Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) slid 12.8 per cent after reporting significant cash burn.Tech momentum lifts global equities
Global markets extended gains, with the S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPX) up 0.2 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DJI) advancing 180 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: IXIC) rising 0.8 per cent, all setting fresh record highs. The rally was driven by renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and mega-cap tech stocks. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) rose 2.3 per cent following a major agreement with OpenAI, while Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) jumped 6.1 per cent after unveiling a $1 billion investment in Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK). Strong earnings from companies such as United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) also boosted sentiment. Despite Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) confirming 14,000 corporate job cuts, it gained 1.4 per cent. Investors remain focused on earnings reports from other tech giants and potential guidance from the US Federal Reserve.Australian Indices Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % ASX 200 -0.5 -0.9 2.6 4.7 12.8 Financials 1.5 -0.5 3.3 6.1 18.1 Resources -1.9 -1.0 4.8 16.8 16.8 Information Technology -1.1 -0.5 -2.9 -2.8 17.5 Global Indices Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % US 500 0.2 1.1 3.4 7.5 19.1 Europe 0.1 -0.1 3.1 5.5 22.3 Japan -0.3 0.4 3.7 12.0 24.8 China top 50 -0.6 0.9 1.9 5.6 31.2 India top 50 -1.0 -0.9 5.0 1.8 -0.1 Fixed Interest Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % Australian Treasury Bond -0.1 -0.3 1.3 1.7 6.0 Australian Corporate Bond 0.0 -0.3 1.2 1.7 6.7 US Treasury 0.3 0.1 1.6 3.4 5.4 Cash 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.0 4.2 Commodities & Crypto Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % Gold -2.9 -5.7 5.1 19.6 42.9 Silver -3.2 -6.1 5.0 23.6 38.1 Crude Oil -1.1 7.1 -5.9 -5.2 3.9 Bitcoin -1.6 0.7 4.6 -3.7 66.8 -
Daily Market Update: 28 October 2025
Australian market lifts on interest rate hopes
The Australian share market climbed on Monday, buoyed by increasing expectations that the United States Federal Reserve will implement an interest rate cut this week. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by 36.6 points to close at 9055.6, while the All-Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) posted similar gains. Eight out of eleven sectors ended in positive territory, led by industrials, financials, and technology. The local rally followed a strong lead from Wall Street after US inflation data came in softer than expected, boosting confidence in imminent monetary easing. Financial stocks were a major driver, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB), Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC), and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ASX: ANZ) all advancing.
Technology and industrials rally as rare earths fall
Tech shares surged in response to upbeat earnings sentiment from the US, with Life360 Inc. (ASX: 360) up 4.7 per cent, Zip Co Limited (ASX: ZIP) gaining 3 per cent, Block Inc. (ASX: SQ2) rising 1.8 per cent, and Appen Limited (ASX: APX) up 4 per cent. Industrials also performed well, with Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) climbing 3.4 per cent and Austal Limited (ASX: ASB) advancing 3.1 per cent. However, rare earths stocks declined sharply amid continued profit-taking following last week’s critical minerals deal between Australia and the US. Arafura Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARU) dropped 9.6 per cent, while Australian Strategic Materials Limited (ASX: ASM) fell 11 per cent. Meanwhile, PolyNovo Limited (ASX: PNV) rose 3.9 per cent after its chairman stepped down, and Nuix Limited (ASX: NXL) tumbled 16.8 per cent following the CEO’s resignation.
Global optimism on trade talks and tech rally
US equities surged to record highs after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated progress on a trade framework between Presidents Trump and Xi. The S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPX) climbed 1.2 per cent, the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: IXIC) jumped 1.9 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DJI) added 350 points. The session was led by semiconductor stocks, with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) up over 2 per cent, while QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) soared 9.5 per cent after unveiling new AI-focused data center chips. Tech heavyweights also rallied, including Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) with a 4.2 per cent gain and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) up 1.3 per cent, ahead of key earnings from Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), alongside an anticipated 25 basis point rate cut from the Fed.
Australian Indices Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % ASX 200 0.4 0.3 3.1 5.6 13.7 Financials 0.5 -1.0 2.6 6.4 18.0 Resources 0.5 0.0 4.3 14.8 16.7 Information Technology 0.4 1.1 -1.8 -0.7 18.8 Global Indices Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % US 500 1.2 1.0 3.0 7.6 19.4 Europe -0.1 0.4 3.6 4.6 22.4 Japan 0.9 -0.9 2.9 9.7 25.6 China top 50 0.9 1.5 1.4 6.0 32.1 India top 50 -0.4 -0.1 5.4 2.1 1.3 Fixed Interest Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % Australian Treasury Bond -0.2 -0.1 1.3 1.7 6.2 Australian Corporate Bond -0.2 -0.1 1.3 1.8 6.9 US Treasury 0.0 0.0 1.2 2.8 4.8 Cash 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.0 4.2 Commodities & Crypto Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % Gold -1.4 -4.3 9.6 23.8 51.1 Silver -2.0 -7.2 7.3 24.9 45.0 Crude Oil 0.7 7.9 -5.6 -2.6 4.0 Bitcoin 3.2 2.7 5.4 0.0 68.0 -
Daily Market Update: 27 October 2025
ASX loses steam on US-Canada trade impass, Newmont (ASX:NEM) sinks as gold fall continues, lithium miners surge behind Liontown (ASX:LTR)
The local share market lost steam on Friday, with the ASX All Ordinaries (ASX:XAO) giving up early gains to finish close to 0.2 per cent lower, as weakness in the materials and healthcare sectors, down 1.2 per cent, offset gains in the technology sector, which gained 1.3 per cent. It was a positive day for lithium and related miners, with Liontown (ASX:LTR) and Pilbara (ASX:PLS) both jumping more than 9 per cent on hopes of an improving outlook for the commodity. Gold miners remained under pressure, however, with Newmont Mining (ASX:NEM) finishing rough week by dropping 4.4 per cent and taking the weekly drop to over 8 per cent. The negative sentiment was driven by news of a trade impass and an end to the loose agreement between the US and China as President Trump prepares to do battle on another front in his trade war. Across the week it was a tale of two sectors, as the energy sector posting a 5.4 per cent gain, amid surging oil prices, while materials fell 2 per cent as the gold price fell from all-time highs.
Coal miners under pressure, Mt Gibson (ASX:MGX) sinks on closure, Corporate Travel (ASX:CTD) updates market amid extended halt
Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) struggled once again, falling 0.6 per cent, as teh company confirmed it was burning as much as $200 million per quarter as weak coal prices hit all producers in the sector, with debt increasing as a result. Mt Gibson Iron (ASX:MGX) dropped by nearly one third of its value after the company confirmed it was shutting down an 80 year old mine in WA for a rockfall the week prior, the news sped up the closure of an ageing asset. Pilbara (ASX:PLS) posted a 30 per cent increase in revenue on just a 2 per cent increase in output as the price of lithium continued to recovery and the business made progress in cutting its cost of production. Corporate Travel (ASX:CTD)remains in an extended trading halt but management confirmed it had been able to deliver its full year results after several months, pointing to a 6 per cent increase in revenue and 29 per cent increas in earnings for the year.
US markets gain strongly as inflation slows, Intel (NYSE:INTC)delivers solid result, Proctor & Gamble (NYSE:PG) result beats expectations
All three US benchmarks gained strongly on Friday and are set to boost sentiment in Australia when the market opens, as a lower than expected, delayed inflation print, boosted hopes of several rate cuts before the year is out. September quarter inflation increased just 0.2 per cent, with the annual rate sitting at 3 per cent, and right within the Federal Reserve’s target band. Intel (NYSE:INTC) has returned to profitability and is now sitting on near 100 per cent gains for the US Government’s investment earlier this year, with the company reporting a 3 per cent increase in revenue and a solid profit result, as the company seeks to boost interest in its return to more complex computing chips. Proctor & Gamble (NYSE:PG) reported 2 per cent organic revenue growth, a boost for such a long established brand, owning the likes of Gillette razors, where small changes have little impact on direction.
Australian Indices Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % ASX 200 -0.2 0.3 2.9 4.6 13.4 Financials -0.6 1.0 3.4 6.5 18.1 Resources 0.5 -1.4 6.6 13.2 16.9 Information Technology 0.3 1.9 -2.9 -1.2 19.6 Global Indices Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % US 500 0.8 0.6 2.8 7.6 19.5 Europe 0.5 0.4 3.9 5.0 23.8 Japan 0.2 0.6 2.4 8.5 26.7 China top 50 1.2 2.6 -0.3 4.4 32.0 India top 50 -0.1 0.2 4.8 2.1 3.1 Fixed Interest Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % Australian Treasury Bond 0.0 -0.1 1.1 1.9 6.1 Australian Corporate Bond -0.1 -0.1 1.1 2.0 6.7 US Treasury -0.3 -0.2 0.9 3.0 4.9 Cash 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.0 4.2 Commodities & Crypto Daily % Weekly % 1 Month % 3 Month % 1 Year % Gold 0.2 -2.4 11.4 24.7 54.0 Silver 0.1 -9.7 13.2 27.4 50.2 Crude Oil 1.5 8.1 -4.1 -3.4 -2.0 Bitcoin 2.7 4.6 -1.8 -6.1 64.1 -
Infrastructure’s second act: Why advisers should take another look
For years, the term “infrastructure” has evoked visions of airports, toll roads, and water utilities, the archetypal “Infrastructure 1.0.” But as Nicholas Kuys, managing director of private infrastructure at Partners Group explains, that paradigm has shifted. Advisers now have access to a profoundly different sector – one shaped by global megatrends, underpinned by innovation and increasingly available through structures built for private clients.
“The sector’s really morphed,” Kuys says. “What we’re seeing now is a much broader definition of infrastructure, encompassing energy transition, digitisation and the infrastructure of future cities. These are more complex investments, but they offer higher return potential if you have the asset management capability to capture that value.”
At the heart of this evolution is the rise of “Core Plus” infrastructure, assets that retain defensive characteristics but offer alpha through active management. It is a space Partners Group has embraced with vigour. The firm is backing everything from fibre networks to data centres, and from battery storage to grid-firming gas plants. These are not passive exposures; they are tailored plays built around second- and third-order thinking.
Energy transition, for instance, is not simply about deploying capital into wind or solar. Partners Group deliberately avoided the initial rush into large-scale solar in Australia due to pricing inefficiencies and regulatory uncertainty. “People flooded into solar without securing proper offtake structures,” explains Kuys. “As a result, many are now underwater. We chose wind because it produces in the morning and evening when demand is high and solar is offline. It was a clear value play.”
But even wind has now become crowded, with compressed returns and elevated risks. The alpha today, Kuys argues, lies elsewhere, particularly in energy security solutions. “Battery storage, firming capacity, small-scale gas. That’s where you can generate outperformance now,” he says. “You need to think ahead of the market. That’s what second-order thinking is all about.”
This forward-thinking approach is crucial in sectors where infrastructure intersects with technology. The relationship between data centres and renewables is a prime example. “As data centres get larger, they need dedicated, sustainable energy solutions,” Kuys says. “We’ve invested in Good at North in the Nordics, a 100 per cent renewables-powered data centre. That’s solving a real dilemma for ‘hyperscale’ clients who are also some of the biggest global emitters.”
(‘Hyperscale’ refers to the complete mix of hardware and facilities that can scale a distributed computing environment up to thousands of servers, to handle massive workloads. As its name implies, hyperscale is all about achieving massive scale in computing – typically for big data or cloud computing.)
The opportunity for advisers, however, has historically been constrained by structural issues. “Infrastructure’s always been at the institutional end of the market,” Kuys admits. “Private wealth clients have found it hard to access because of the J-curve, illiquidity and pooled structures that weren’t designed with them in mind.”
Partners Group is attempting to rewrite that script. The launch of its Next Generation Infrastructure Fund is a response to years of client demand. “Investors looked at our performance, which is consistently top-quartile, with net realised returns north of 20 per cent, and asked, ‘when can we access this in a format that works for us?’” Kuys says. “Now we can offer that, thanks to the maturity of the secondaries market.”
It is this confluence, of strong direct investing credentials and deep secondaries expertise, that Kuys believes sets Partners Group apart. “Secondaries are great in theory, but you need a global team, real skill and scale to pick through them properly. That’s what we bring to the table,” he says. “It’s not just about having access. It’s about having the ability to filter and select.”
For advisers conducting due diligence, Kuys offers a caution. “You need to understand how your fund is accessing the underlying assets,” he says. “Are you getting line-by-line allocation, or are you standing at the back of the queue behind institutional money? That can be the difference between accessing alpha or getting diluted returns.”
The timing, Kuys believes, is ideal. Institutional allocations to infrastructure have surged in recent years, from 5 per cent to as much as 10 per cent of portfolios, and advisers are now seeking alternatives that offer downside protection with upside potential. “At a time when people are cautious about valuations, and traditional de-risking means moving to low-return assets like cash or bonds, infrastructure is a compelling middle ground,” he says.
Despite this, access remains patchy. “Frustratingly, our fund still isn’t on many platforms,” Kuys says. “But the demand is there, and we expect that to change rapidly. Advisers want global exposure to infrastructure, and they want it through high-quality vehicles designed for private clients.”
For those looking to diversify clients’ portfolios with resilience and thematic exposure, infrastructure is no longer just for institutions. “We’ve matured as a market,” Kuys concludes. “Australia knows infrastructure. We’ve exported it, just like Tim Tams and Shane Warne. Now it’s time for advisers to reclaim it, with the right structures and the right thinking.”
-
JANA expands relationships with managed account providers
Investment consultancy JANA is seeking to expand its wealth business after growing funds under advice to $15 billion in just six years, $3 billion of which is in managed accounts.
“We’re actively looking to expand our consulting relationships with managed account providers. We support high net worth advice firms with scalable, institutional grade solutions, including model management of managed accounts, an area we’re looking to substantially accelerate,” JANA Wealth senior consultant Bill Dwyer says.
“As more practices seek to institutionalise their offerings, and with consolidation driven by increased platform and responsible entity governance, we see strong alignment between our capabilities and the evolving needs of managed account providers,” he says.
As managed accounts grow in popularity, institutional investment consultants with decades of experience like JANA have extended their services into this space, making institutional-quality investment advice accessible to retail investors.
Along with managed account structure setup and development support, JANA Wealth offers model portfolio support, investment committee support attendance and access to its capital market research capabilities including SPARK and SOLVE.
Dwyer says the appeal of managed accounts lies in the transparency, efficiency and governance they offer retail investors. They can also provide them with exposure to a variety of different asset classes that can be difficult to access as retail investors.
“We see managed account investors increasingly looking beyond traditional assets. There’s strong demand for liquid alternatives like long-short equity, global macro, managed futures as well as evergreen private equity. We also see managed account investors exploring Australian small caps and diversified fixed income, which is popular for yield and portfolio resilience,” Dwyer says.
Liquid alternatives are already apart of the managed accounts that JANA advises on, and Dwyer expects the focus on this asset class to continue to grow as more investors recognise its strong diversification benefits and low correlation to traditional asset classes. All of these qualities mean liquid alternatives can aid portfolio resilience under a range of market conditions.
“The liquid alternative universe has evolved significantly over the past decade, fees have come down, and governance and transparency have improved. So, for many investors, these strategies are no longer alternative but a core component of a well-constructed portfolio,” Dwyer says.
Fund manager providers of liquid alternatives are responding to increased demand from retail investors and building strategies that fit their specific liquidity and transparency requirements.
“That’s opening the door to genuine diversification within managed account portfolios. It’s part of broader shift towards portfolios built for resilience rather than just returns,” Dwyer says.
In its Signature Series, the JANA Signature Core managed account is a typical balanced portfolio and holds around 70 per cent in growth assets and 30 per cent in defensive assets. Approximately 10 per cent of that growth allocation is to liquid alternatives, including long-short equity and credit and multi-strategy hedge funds.
“These allocations are designed to strengthen diversification and generate returns that are less reliant on traditional market movements,” Dwyer says.
Funds under advice in JANA Wealth now account for nearly 10 per cent of JANA’s total funds under advice and the business is gearing up for further growth in wealth with the hire of another senior investment consultant, David Wilson, earlier this year. It currently has more than 15 clients including Investor Wealth and Wealthtrac and was also advertising for a national manager, wealth sales in September.
“As JANA expands its presence in the wealth sector, we are seeing increasing demand for customised managed account engagements and remain committed to delivering institutional-quality insights and portfolio solutions our client’s trust,” JANA Wealth head Michael Karagianis said when announcing Wilson’s appointment.
-
Gearing for growth: Private equity’s quiet engine in the mid-market
“Forget all the noise. It’s about returns,” says Michael Lukin, group managing partner at Roc Partners, when asked why investors should care about private equity. “It is fundamentally a way to generate higher alpha from your portfolio than any other asset class.”
Lukin has watched the industry evolve over 25 years. He has seen hype come and go, but one thing endures: long-term outperformance by good managers investing in the right part of the market. For Roc, that means the Australian mid-market.
“Everyone thinks about private equity as one asset class,” he says, “but it’s really a bunch of asset classes or a bunch of exposures that sit below the surface.” At the top, you have global mega buyouts, “busses,” as he calls them; large, slow-moving vehicles that struggle to generate differentiated returns. At the bottom, there’s venture capital, or “cars that may never get out of the lot.”
Roc prefers the vehicle in between. “We focus on what we call mid-market private equity,” Lukin says. “These are businesses that sit above the mum and dad operation. They’ve got a CEO, maybe a CFO, but maybe not the entire C-suite built out.” This is where private equity can add operational value, plug funding gaps and drive transformation.
The firm’s sweet spot includes founder-owned businesses looking to scale. “One of the best sources of deal flow is a founder saying, ‘I want to roll JB Hi-Fi out of Victoria.’ That might require capital, systems, and help building a professional management team.”
Succession is another structural theme. Lukin describes “a great source of wealth clients in this country” as families whose children have no interest in taking over the business. “They’ve all gone to private schools, become bankers and lawyers, and don’t want to run a waste management business in Western Sydney.” Private equity steps in, buys the asset, and the capital recirculates through wealth managers and family offices.
But what makes the mid-market compelling is not just opportunity; it’s the lack of competition. “More than 80 per cent of companies in Australia with revenue between $10 million and $250 million are privately held. There might be a dozen people in the country seriously looking at them.”
The comparison with listed markets is stark. “If you’re now a $500 million company in Australia looking to list, you’re in no man’s land,” Lukin says. “You’re not big enough to be in the S&P/ASX 300, so you get no volume, no liquidity and no analyst coverage.”
Concentration risk is another concern. “If you’re an Australian public equity investor, half your portfolio is in banks and miners. I don’t know the last time I read that banks and mining companies were the future of growth in the world.”
Private equity, by contrast, offers scale and diversification, if you get the manager right. “In unlisted markets, the spread between top- and bottom-quartile managers is 1000 basis points. In listed equity, it’s two or three per cent. So choosing the right brand is really important.”
Performance in private equity is persistent, Lukin argues, because it’s based on replicable skill. “If I have a playbook around how I take a family-owned business and grow it, that’s something I can rinse and repeat. There’s no equivalent of that in listed markets.”
Still, the traditional model – think long lock-ups, capital calls and illiquidity – doesn’t suit every client. “Think of it as the classic car in the garage. It’s the Rolls Royce. It’s what the family offices, the Harvards, the Yales (that is, university endowments) use. But it’s not the everyday car to take the kids to school.”
What is emerging, Lukin says, is a more flexible structure: open-ended vehicles that offer ongoing deployment, smoother return profiles and simplified access. “It’s the ability to press a button and get to your target asset allocation, with great diversification, great vintage exposure and long-term compounding.”
For Lukin, the conclusion is simple. “If you pick the right brand, you can continue to see outperformance over the long term in this asset class.”
-
INSight #444 with Lauren Ryan from Thinktank
Lauren Ryan from Thinktank speaks to Laurence Parker-Brown from The Inside Network on why private credit belongs at the core of defensive allocations today.