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The FS Power50: Australia’s top financial advisers
If the prospect of choosing a financial adviser appears too hard, why not start by running a ruler over the 50 advice professionals selected by their peers annually for demonstrating unwavering professionalism and providing outstanding service to their clients and wider community? Every year the Financial Standard curates votes from the advice community to come up with what’s regarded as the FS Power50. Given the popularity of these to 50 advisers, there’s no guarantee they’re actively looking to increase their client book, while others may prefer to work with certain types of clients.290 in Power50 alumniAfter 12 years of running the FS Power50 awards, there are now 290 financial advisers in the FS Power50 alumni. While some individual advisers repeatedly find themselves on this list year after year, this year there were a total of 20 changes from the previous list, including 10 new advisers named and another 10 rejoining. In light of the recent First Guardian scandal, where some advisers used their trusted position to funnel thousands of clients and their life savings into this dodgy investment fund - sometimes using aggressive sales tactics – the need to identify exemplary practitioners within the advice community i
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Where to invest: Why scepticism on AI and gold matters
With investors desperate to back certainties within highly volatile markets, it’s becoming trickier to second-guess where you should park your money for long-term growth; after all, there’s no shortage of brokers, analysts and fund managers telling you where to find wealth-creating investments. While the market is currently placing ‘big bets’ on the back of prevailing global narratives around gold, private markets, uranium, AI and big tech, data centres and energy, to name a few, it’s important to stand back before piling on in. The price at which you enter any investment will have a major impact on your overall returns, and with the gold price starting to unravel, many investors could be setting themselves up for serial disappointment. With so many of these so-called ‘hot sectors’ displaying characteristics similar to one gigantic Ponzi scheme, investors who enter last are most at risk of financial loss. Is interest in gold waning? While gold is often touted as a ‘bet on fear’, the price of the precious yellow metal has dropped well below the psychological level of US$4,000, having recently surged above US$4,380/ounce. Based on his technical analysis of the XAU/USDT chart, Damian Chmiel of Finance Magnates sugges
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LICs lag as macro headwinds hit performance
Given that they’re continuing to struggle with large discounts, it’s hardly surprising that Morningstar's latest research found that most of the 80-odd ASX listed investment companies – aka LICs - have underperformed the ASX 200 Total Return Index since the start of 2025. With LIC’s typically charging 1% to 1.5% of their of the net assets as a management fee, frustrated investors may choose to off-load underperforming LICs within the next 6-12 months in favour of low-cost and better performing exchange traded funds (ETFs). The latest industry pulse noted shares of asset managers are likely to remain volatile, as investor sentiment remains vulnerable to U.S. tariffs and macroeconomic uncertainties. As income without excessive risk becomes harder to find amid falling interest rates, it’s understandable why investors may look to equities-focused LICs to fill that gap. But in light of myriad macroeconomic headwinds, Morningstar’s research forecasts modest returns for LICs in the medium term after they achieved double-digit gains last year.Lumpier growth despite more rate cuts by the FedWhile equity markets appear buoyed by the prospect further rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, Morningstar equity analyst Shaun Ler rem
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Invest in ASX outside over-priced banks - Morningstar
The Australian sharemarket presents many investment opportunities despite high valuations for most quality companies, according to Morningstar. The investment research firm said concentration was a risk in Australia, with more than half of the 32% return in the two years to August 2025 coming from the Big Four banks and Wesfarmers (ASX: WES). Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) contributed about 25% of these returns, and banks represented 25% of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) by market capitalisation, up from 19% two years ago. “Valuations of most blue chips look stretched, though a volatile reporting season did throw up new opportunities, including wide-moat Woolworths,” Morningstar Market Strategist Lochlan Halloway said. “It makes sense to be selective, and we see plenty of opportunities outside the expensive banks.” He said although the Australian and New Zealand companies it researched were trading at a 5% premium to fair value on an equal-weighted average at 30 September 2025, he saw many opportunities, particularly among companies outside the ASX 50 index. About 30% of these stocks had four-or five-star ratings, which is comfortably above the trailing 10-year average of about 25%, and almost 40% of unde
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Gold and Bitcoin surge as traders hedge against turmoil
With Gold and Bitcoin - two assets that typically trade higher on the back of heightened fear - both rallying in the wake of macroeconomic uncertainty, investors have every right to ask which one is more deserving of a place in their portfolio? While gold recently blasted past US$4,000 – which saw many ASX 200 gold stocks double their value over the past year – the world's biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, notched its own record high yesterday, with the token trading for US$126,198.07, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Before answering the question of gold or Bitcoin, Charlie Sherry, Head of Finance at Australian cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets, says investors need to understand that both assets are designed to play very different roles. While gold is acting as a traditional safe haven, Sherry reminds investors that Bitcoin is capturing momentum from ETF inflows, post-halving dynamics, and growing institutional adoption. The Bitcoin halving Sherry is referring to is an event – occurring approximately every 210,000 blocks – that’s designed to control the issuance rate and total supply of the cryptocurrency. During the halving event, the number of new Bitcoins created with each block mined is reduced by half.

Wealth

Guides

The FS Power50: Australia’s top financial advisers

Where to invest: Why scepticism on AI and gold matters

LICs lag as macro headwinds hit performance

Invest in ASX outside over-priced banks - Morningstar

Gold and Bitcoin surge as traders hedge against turmoil

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