Portfolio construction practitioners have access to a broader array of investment research, strategies and tools than ever before - yet obstacles to meeting clients' long-term financial goals are equally numerous.

There is no point in building wealth for the future if that future is one of frequent and catastrophic climate events that undermine our way of life.

In retirement, investors seek to convert their savings into a sustainable salary replacement with access to growing capital. The metric for success must also shift to accommodate these trade-offs.

Total return portfolios can support retiree spending strategies while removing the temptation to increase risk - in the end, producing better outcomes for retirees.

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.

Companies that are solving the world's greatest challenges - environmental or humanitarian – often have near term imperfections that see them starved of capital. A pragmatic approach embraces imperfections and focusses on the potential for positive societal impact.

Uncertainty around the inflation outlook is at an extreme – yet a view on inflation is a critical input to building portfolios capable of achieving client goals out into the future.

Three economists describe and debate three plausible, forward-looking economic and market scenarios that have a reasonable probability of occurring during the next two to three years.

Infrastructure plays a key role in the move towards decarbonisation and net-zero emissions. Government policy support and the unprecedented amount of capital required to achieve these targets should change how you think about investing in infrastructure.

Will current elevated levels be sustained? Not likely. Post Covid-19, secular factors such as debt levels and demographics provide even stronger headwinds against inflation than the preceding decade ever did.

Capital markets will be shaped profoundly as the economy transitions from a depletive economic model to a more sustainable one. Such transitions will inevitably create winners and losers.

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!

Our hypothetical Investment Committee considers three relevant economic and market scenarios which have a reasonable probability of occurring, and the asset allocation implications of each.

Investors should consider the real-world impact of their investments and build portfolios aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a means to building clients' wealth, and improving well-being.

Investors should view long biased, long short equity as a core solution, dedicating a meaningful slice to portfolios, rather than being constrained by traditional equity/debt buckets.

There are now a plethora of funds that aim to account for ESG issues based on different philosophies and processes. Passive screening and divestment approaches are inefficient ways of bringing about real change.

With the individual, business and economic benefits on offer from a more ethical Australia, the business case for change is a sound one. Strengthening ethics is simply a must for a better future.

With several catalysts impacting on the Australian advice landscape, we are seeing a resurgence back to centrally developed investment portfolio construction solutions - but the approach differs to history.

Self-awareness has been hailed as one of the most important meta-skills of the 21st century. In an investment advice context, both advisers and clients benefit from engaging in activities that promote its development.

Activist short sellers have received increasing attention - and notoriety - in recent years. This paper adopts the lens of narrative economics to reveal useful insights into the dynamics of activist short selling.