People attach great importance to their social connections. Yet, this social goal will not always dovetail with groups securing the best possible decision. Part of the Finology short course, Behavioural Finance - Investment Decision-Making, this lecture examines how we can improve group activity to help ensure dedication to the organisational objective becomes precisely the route by which we achieve social rewards.

Covid-19 is a situation in which an actual virus - as well as new narratives related to it and its associated consequences - began spreading at the same time, with major economic consequences.

The financial services industry has done the impossible and made money boring, opaque and difficult to understand. If we better understand the psychology of money, we can better help our clients.

The mind-set that works so well when people are building their nest egg for retirement can damage their quality of life in retirement. We help clients accumulate responsibly - we can help them decumulate responsibly, too.

Positive ESG selection creates a broader universe of sustainable companies and greater opportunity set than negative or exclusionary policies, delivering more sustainable risk-adjusted returns.

A high equity income strategy tailored for retirees is a core solution for providing better retirement outcomes, maximising income while leaving capital intact.

When markets are exuberant, it is difficult to see - let alone act - against the hubris. When markets are down in the dumps, it is difficult to see past the misery. A reductive macro-economic framework may help.

There are strong behavioural biases that attract investors to complex strategies. However, introducing complexity will, on average, diminish the odds of success and detract from returns.

Knowledge and proficiency in behavioural finance and investor psychology - finology - is developing ever better relationships with clients to help them achieve their goals. Benchmarking your current finology proficiency matters!

Australian cash rates will stay low for decades. Low interest rates mean high asset prices, which means much lower returns ahead. Our client communications must be in tune with this new environment.

A recent independent study into retirement from the perspectives of over 1,500 older Australians found that financial advisers are the keystone to retirees' well-being.

Regulation states that fund managers must not mislead clients. While prescribed scales exist for risk, analysis shows inconsistent application.

As investors themselves, investment advisers can suffer from the very biases they attempt to combat within their clients, risking the delivery of optimal client outcomes and deepening relationships.

Quantitative easing has inflated the price and risk of asset classes. Private debt prices in this risk and offers investors the capital protection they deserve.

Investors are concerned about investing in assets with exposure to carbon emissions. However, regulated electric utilities will be a significant beneficiary in a greener world.

Many assume there are two kinds of business decision makers - those who are ethical and those who are not. However, most of us are both.

Trust is the product of two judgements clients make about us - our competence and our benevolence. So trust could, at least partly, be won without being earned. So is it ethical to try?

In the 1990s and 2000s, investors were largely able to ignore the macro picture. But macro forces have reawakened and matter more than ever for portfolios to succeed in meeting client goals in the years ahead.

As the Baby Boomer generation continues to transition to retirement and life expectancies rise, portfolio construction practitioners must ensure retirement solutions meet client goals right to the end of their days.

Practitioner education focuses heavily on developing technical investment skills, often to the detriment of knowledge and skills that enable better engagement and understanding of the most important aspect of any portfolio – the client!