I hope you’ve had a good start to the calendar year, though no doubt the economy, geopolitical changes and the ensuing market volatility has kept you and your team busy.
At the start of every year, we formulate our capital markets assumptions for the coming 12 months. This is particularly important against the current backdrop of political change and elevated market uncertainty.
Not surprisingly, this year’s assumptions highlight how geopolitics and the rise of populism is expected to underpin higher levels of uncertainty and volatility in markets and inflation. A summary of our views in now available in Mosaic, and I invite you to take a look, as our assumptions provide a critical input into the direction of our expanding managed account portfolios for the year ahead.
Adviser research project
Late last year, we commenced work on a detailed research project canvassing advisers’ views on trends and opportunities for advice practices, the challenges that are restricting growth and the solutions practices are leveraging to create a more efficient and scalable service offering.
This has culminated in an in-depth market report, Unlocking Advice Efficiencies in 2025, which outlines the trends fuelling practice growth and adviser readiness to capitalise on these opportunities, highlighting how managed accounts are driving practice efficiencies, improving client outcomes, and helping advice practices scale with confidence.
The final report is now available in Mosaic, which makes for a very insightful read.
A productive start to the year
It’s been a very busy start to the year for the Research team, with international fixed interest, alternatives, small-mid cap Australian shares and market neutral sectors all being released in the last three months. The sector reports, available in Mosaic, always highlight some interesting sector insights and trends observed by our analysts that are worth exploring, particularly as we face into a more volatile market this year.
Super fund performance update
We’re fortunate to have access to an exceptional range of investment sector and financial markets experts within our business. Our recent webinar on super fund performance and asset allocation trends was a great showcase of that expertise. Mano Mohankumar, Chant West’s Senior Investment Research Manager, and Damien Hennessy, Zenith’s Head of Asset Allocation, discussed what impacted markets in the last calendar year, what drove the stronger super fund performance, and what super funds are doing to shore up more resilient and robust portfolios in 2025. The recording is available on demand, providing a helpful resource to have more informed retirement planning conversations with your clients.
Lifetime product ratings now live
Earlier this month, Chant West launched ‘lifetime product ratings’. This reflects the increasing focus of the regulator on the need for funds to provide lifetime income options to their growing pool of retiring members and how super funds are responding with product solutions for their members. Our active engagement across the $4trillion super fund sector observes that there are more such solutions slated for launch over the next couple of years.
This new lifetime product ratings approach uses unique criteria to assess the features, fees, investments and services provided, including criteria that compare the projected outcomes of each product with the account-based pensions.
These ratings are now live in Mosaic.
Your feedback is important
We always value your feedback on our services and tools and there’s a great opportunity to share your views on Mosaic within the platform at the moment. The short survey is looking to capture your thoughts on how you use Mosaic, the usefulness and utility of its features and tools, and what you’d like to see included in the development roadmap for Mosaic going forward. The survey is available here and we would be grateful if you can take a few minutes to share your thoughts.
Best wishes,
Jason Huddy
Managing Director
