Forum Fodder

Forum Fodder | Friday 29 May 2026

“The Beijing summit… reignited talk of the ‘imperial twilight’ in which America is supposedly ceding its superpower crown to China. But in at least one field - financial competition - the opposite is true. China is stagnating.” - Ruchir Sharma, chairman of Rockefeller International (18 May 2026)

All the best for another week’s continuing education!
Graham

Strategies | Markets | Investing | Finology | Philosophy

25th Annual Strategies Summit 2026 “Eyes on the prize!”
AEST Wed-Thu 19-20 August 2026 | 12+ CE/CPD hrs | A$395+GST (Practitioner)
Join us in our Live Studio, Live Site, or via Live Stream | Mark Your Diary!
The purpose of investing is not simply to accumulate wealth. The real “prize” is financial wellbeing, won by helping clients stay focused on what ultimately matters - achieving their goals, improving their quality of life, and providing for the people who matter most, throughout both the accumulation and decumulation phases of life.
That’s far easier said than done. At Markets Summit in February, we agreed we are living in a whole new world (again)! - a world of structural change, geopolitical fragmentation, technological disruption, and evolving market regimes. For investment and wealth professionals, that means rethinking assumptions, broadening perspectives, and adopting a Whole Brain Approach to portfolio construction strategies.
As Yogi Berra famously observed: “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Eyes on the prize!
Strategies Summit 2026 will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking through robust debate of contemporary and emerging portfolio construction strategies to help you build better quality portfolios designed to improve client financial wellbeing.

Markets

Jerome Powell’s mixed legacy
With Jerome Powell concluding his tenure as Fed chair, his legacy is likely to reflect a striking irony - it will have been secured by the man who sought most aggressively to undermine him.
Mohamed El-Erian, The Wharton School | Read

Finology

The Inquisitor: Empathy is a double-edged sword - Barbara Oakley
For investment advisers, empathy without objectivity can become harmful. Expertise, intuition and independent thinking are best built through deep internalised knowledge, not passive reliance on AI.
Robert Huebscher, Portfolio Construction Forum | Read

Strategies | Markets | Investing | As seen at Markets Summit 2026

In the new world, private credit still holds steady
A persistent supply–demand imbalance, combined with tighter bank capital requirements, is opening the door to more opportunities for private lenders.
Andrew Lockhart, Metrics Credit Partners | 0.25 CE | Watch, Listen

Strategies | Markets | Investing | As seen at Markets Summit 2026

Quality and valuation still drive long-term returns
Artificial Intelligence is disrupting industries and creating winners, losers, and perceived losers. Long-term value is created by owning resilient businesses rather than chasing momentum.
David Steinthal, L1 Capital International | 0.25 CE | Watch, Listen

Strategies | Markets

Market Signals: AI meets the bond market
Markets continue to behave as though AI can absorb almost any macroeconomic shock, largely pricing AI as an abundance narrative. Meanwhile, the underlying system is increasingly signalling scarcity.
Nick Schoenmaker, Portfolio Construction Forum | 0.25 CE | Read

Strategies | Markets | Investing | Philosophy

Short Course: Mastering Australian private debt investing
Examining the unique characteristics that make private debt a compelling investment.
Private debt has grown in popularity as an alternative source of debt financing, with the asset class tripling in size since 2008. Curated and produced by Portfolio Construction Forum, and led by private debt investing subject matter expert, Andrew Lockhart, this self-paced, two-hour online short course equips you with the expertise to navigate private debt investment confidently across diverse market conditions.
Metrics & Portfolio Construction Forum | 2.00 CE | Enrol

Finology | Philosophy | * Premium *

Behavioural Finance: Investment decision-making short course
Led by behavioural finance expert, Herman Brodie, this online, on-demand course completed at your own pace will help you identify, analyse and evaluate the principal human preferences that influence decision-making in situations of uncertainty, so you can recognise and identify these preferences in others, to improve investment decision-making.
Herman Brodie | 8.00 CE (incl 1.00 ethics) | Enrol

Markets

Four scenarios for the Iran war
After decapitating the Iranian regime and bombing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps positions for 40 days, the Trump administration has left Iran in control of the Strait of Hormuz. So, what happens next?
Nouriel Roubini, Roubini Macro Associates | Read

Strategies | Markets | Investing | As seen at Markets Summit 2026

RBA’s lower speed limit means lower interest rates, not higher
As the RBA hikes rates to curb inflation due to a lower speed limit, should investors ultimately be expecting lower or higher bond yields?
Adam Bowe, PIMCO | 0.25 CE | Watch, Listen

Strategies | Markets | Investing | As seen at Markets Summit 2026

The new world’s winners will look very different from past decades
AI, geopolitical realignment, energy transition, and aging demographics are reshaping the world, creating opportunities for diversification and downside protection versus passive core portfolios overweight the ‘old world’.
Jacob Mitchell, Antipodes Partners | 0.50 CE | Watch, Listen

Strategies | Markets | Investing | As seen at Markets Summit 2026

Global REITs are the new world’s most overlooked opportunity
The valuation disconnect between REITs and broader equities is at levels only seen during the GFC, yet the underlying real estate fundamentals tell a very different story. It’s time to ‘buy-the-dip’ in high quality global real estate.
Sonia Luton, Resolution Capital | 0.50 CE | Watch, Listen

Strategies | Markets

Market Signals: Reflections on a changing regime
The AI boom, energy insecurity, strategic infrastructure, liquidity management and private market implementation are all becoming part of the same portfolio construction conversation.
Nick Schoenmaker, Portfolio Construction Forum | 0.25 CE | Read

Markets

The private credit panic is overblown
Private credit markets are under growing stress, fuelling fears of a financial crisis that could spill over to the real economy. But a closer look at the evidence suggests predictions of a meltdown are running well ahead of the facts.
Dambisa Moyo, Versaca Investments | Read

Strategies | Markets | Investing | As seen at Markets Summit 2026

The new world favours global small-cap equities
A changing equity market structure is emerging, driven by changing investor behaviour and advances in AI - and global small-cap equities sit at the centre of this shift, as one of the last frontiers of inefficiency in public markets.
Sadhvi Gupta, Goldman Sachs Asset Management | 0.25 CE | Watch, Listen

Strategies | Markets | Investing | As seen at Markets Summit 2026

Core infrastructure is a generational investment opportunity?
Headlines highlight the growing demand for power generation, largely driven by digitalisation, AI, robotics, and automation. The undersupply of infrastructure needed to support it provides a real market opportunity for investors.
Teiki Benveniste, Ares Wealth Management Solutions | 0.50 CE | Watch, Listen

Philosophy

Research Review: What if everyone did that?
When considering the ethics of our actions, we often rely on two approaches - considering the outcomes and consequences, and whether the action accords with rules and norms. The effectiveness of a third approach is the focus of this research paper.
Rob Hamshar, Portfolio Construction Forum | 1.50 CE | Read

Strategies | Markets

Market Signals: Markets vs system reality
Markets can remain stable at the index level even as risk becomes more uneven, more concentrated, and more difficult to hedge. This week’s signals suggest that is now the dominant dynamic.
Nick Schoenmaker, Portfolio Construction Forum | 0.25 CE | Read

Forum CE Library - over 1,000 CE/CPD hours
Complimentary for all Forum members, the Forum’s online on-demand CE Library offers over 800 CE/CPD hours of accredited learning resources, to help members meet the CE/CPD requirements of 20+ governing bodies (regulators, associations, and institutes) including ASIC, APRA, Legislated (AU)/FAAA, FMA and CIMA^® CE/CPD requirements, to name just a few.
Earn CE/CPD hours

Forum CIMA CE Library - over 170 CE hours
This subset of our full CE Library features just those learning resources that are accredited for CIMA CE hours, so CIMA certificants can more easily find learning resources to meet their recertification obligation (at the same time as meeting the CE/CPD requirements of other governing bodies e.g. ASIC, APRA, Legislated (AU)/FAAA, FMA etc).
Earn CIMA CE hours

Connect with us on LinkedIn
We let my LinkedIn network know as soon as we release new articles on portfolioconstructionforum.edu.au and when registration opens for our face-to-face CE programs. And of course, I’d welcome having an offline direct conversation with you any time.