02/09/2026
We're spending 2 days at an investment conference with our asset consultants Zenith Investment Partners. Day 1, we had some amazing insights from Amy Xie Patrick from Pendal Group, Laura Stolfi from Nuveen, a TIAA company, Felicity Walsh from Franklin Templeton, Danny King from Natixis Investment Managers. Not to mention hearing from some of the many superstars from Zenith, such as Damien Hennessy, Andrew Yap, and Dugald Higgins.
Some key takeouts:
• The workforce has always been changing and a larger and larger portion is services
• The AI stack has 5 categories - Applications (industries to use it) + Models (such as Anthropic/Claude) + Infrastructure (Data Centres) + Chips (Semi Conductors) + Energy (Utilities). It is safe to expect these themes to continue to play out. But be careful, how much is a normal portfolio exposed to this? It is estimated a Balanced Portfolio has a 15% exposure to AI.
• The RBA is expected to increase rates and housing has come off 3% since March 2026. Will we see property come down 9-10% like it has in the past?
• Government Debt to GDP is at its highest level since 1947. Should this worry you?
• Private Markets (such as credit, equity, property and infrastructure) has gone from having less than 50 funds and less than $1 billion under management in 2006, to more than 550 funds and over $18 billion under management in 2026 hence it's becoming very important to choose the right and experienced manager
• Have public markets become better quality and are companies that find it difficult to raise money in public markets, being driven towards privately raising funds?
• If interest rates are continuing to increase then make sure any bond duration is it 0 as this could make negative bond returns.
• What is the difference between trusting a smaller fund manager versus a large fund manager with global backing