Investment ideas galore at ASX Investor Day

Livewire is proud to partner with the ASX for its latest round of Investor Days, one of which was held in Melbourne on the weekend. The next event will be in Sydney this weekend – Saturday, 23 November, 9:00 am—5:00 pm, in the Hilton Grand Ballroom, 488 George Street Sydney. (Don't miss the discount code at the bottom of this wire if you're interested in attending the Sydney event)

I highly recommend coming along. Right from the outset in Melbourne, there was a real buzz and energy in the room. With equity markets at all-time highs and the property market strong, guests keenly made their way through the stalls, chatting with fund managers and product issuers about all asset classes.

Welcome and Commsec Podcast

Official proceedings kicked off at 9:30 with an introduction from the ASX, before CommSec’s Tom Piotrowski and Ryan Felsman recorded their popular market update podcast in front of the live audience.

It was a thorough summary of all the recent market action, providing great grounding and context for the rest of the day. It was also a treat to pull back the curtain and see how a podcast comes together in real time.

Megatrends panel

Next, yours truly hosted a panel of experts covering global equities, property and infrastructure, and macro and fixed income, who discussed the megatrends shaping the investment world today.

Magellan’s Arvid Streimann, Resolution Capital’s Sonia Luton, and Vanguard’s Grant Feng, did a stellar job of unpacking major themes such as an ageing population, the energy transition, and the biggest theme in markets right now – digital innovation and AI.

They broke these megatrends down into relatable and investable insights relevant to their respective asset classes, whilst the audience leant in and asked a handful of impactful questions to round out the session.

Morning tea and breakout sessions

Morning tea was served at 11 am and it should be noted that the food was delicious and plentiful (and probably worth the price of admission alone), before the breakout sessions kicked off.

Attendees have dual options – the gold room or the green room – depending on their level of experience and interest. Livewire will be covering a handful of the sessions in full next week (post the Sydney event), so I chose to attend the alternative sessions in Melbourne.

How to start investing

Popular finance commentator Effie Zahos, who many of you have likely seen on Channel 9’s Today Show chatting with Karl Stefanovic and Ally Langdon, provided a highly engaging and entertaining introductory session on how (and why) to get involved in investing.

I really enjoyed this session. Despite being in markets for 20 years, it’s always worth taking things back to first principles as a reminder of why we all do what we do. For anyone planning to bring their kids along to help them catch the investing bug, this is the session for you.

Among the highlights from Zahos’ presentation was the advice that Paul Clitheroe gave her many years back, whilst I also particularly enjoyed her commentary about how easy it is to get caught up in unnecessary consumption (everything is one click away, 52% off, and there is only 1 left!). It was like she was holding up a mirror to some of my own bad spending habits – of which there are many.

A new approach to investment gearing

I switched rooms for the next session, from gold to green, to take in a presentation from Betashares’ Cameron Gleeson about gearing in general, and how it is being utilised within certain Betashares ETFs.

It was a great reminder of two things: 

1. Aussie investors are still carrying some scar tissue from the events of the GFC, particularly those who were over-geared; and 
2. That when used properly, in a controlled and diversified way, gearing can potentially be a great tool to help generate excess returns.

Of course, as Gleeson points out, gearing is not without its risks and certainly not for everyone, but the session was balanced in its approach to both the risks and opportunities and, honestly, left me wanting to investigate further.

Buy now pay later for SMSFs and super

Following a 50-minute lunch break, it was back in the green room for a presentation from Citi’s Elizabeth Tian on the features and benefits of instalment warrants.

Showing my age, I remembered when warrants were a lot more popular, but I was surprised to learn that more than $2 billion in warrants are still traded every year. There are particular benefits to be had for those who use them in an SMSF/super structure—in fact, 70% of people who use instalments do so in an SMSF structure.

Tian also pointed out that investors can take out instalments over many asset classes, including global equities, which is one of the most popular options.

Whilst there are potential benefits to be had using instalments in certain structures, as Tian pointed out, it’s always best to discuss things with your financial advisor.

Investing in the future: The AI ecosystem is more than meets the eye

I was torn between the options for the next breakout session – in the green room was the AI conversation, in the gold room was VanEck talking about crypto.

As the headline gives away, I stayed in the green room to listen to Jessica Leung from Global X talk about why they are leaning hard into this theme and why they believe it will provide opportunities for decades to come.

The presentation was littered with cool factoids and charts about the rise of computing power, the progress with chipmaking and the like. Leung also went to lengths to explain why Global X prefers to invest in the entire AI value chain.

Top investment ideas in 2025

Following afternoon tea, where I may or may not have indulged in a sweet treat, everyone was back in the main room for the final two sessions for the day.

First up, we had Fidelity, Ardea and Metrics presenting their top investment ideas for 2025.

Fidelity’s Lukasz de Pourbaix discussed the dispersion in global markets, highlighting differing valuations across geographies and asset classes. This dispersion, he believes, creates opportunities for investors and he shared that he and his team are looking for very specific stocks that are best placed to take advantage.

Ardea Investment Management was next up, outlining the new regime in bond markets where volatility will likely be elevated – which means duration and credit-based strategies might not be enough. Ardea argues that adding a third lever – pure relative value – can help dampen volume and increase diversification.

Metrics Credit Partners’ Andrew Lockhart closed the session, talking about the opportunity in one of the hottest segments of the market – private credit. Lockhart discussed the opportunity across corporate lending (including many ASX-listed companies), as well as commercial real estate debt where Metrics holds approximately $12 billion of the $20 billion it has lent out. Lockhart went on to address some of the concerns around private credit, highlighting that Australia has some of the most protective insolvency laws in the world.

Buy, Hold, Sell

Rounding out the day was a high-energy session from Bell Direct’s Grady Wulff, who hosted the well-known fan favourite Buy, Hold, Sell—but with a twist. Audience members were able to actively participate, pitting their stock-picking skills against Wulff, before the host analysed four stocks that the audience had submitted earlier in the day.

The final word

From pillar to post, it was a great day with the audience participating fully – it was great to see everyone getting involved and to all the attendees who approached me to have a chat, it was fantastic meeting and speaking with you. It was also great to see attendees of all ages… it’s never too early to get started and you never ‘beat’ markets – there is always an opportunity to get better.

So, Melbourne brought the energy and it was a fantastic event, extremely well constructed by the ASX team. Bring on Sydney!

SPECIAL OFFER

For any Livewire readers wishing to purchase a ticket to the Sydney event this weekend, you can do so via this link – make sure to use code LWNOV for a 20% discount.

Please note that the Investor Day series is being held in partnership with the ASX Refinitiv Charity Foundation, with all ticket sales going towards a range of Children's Disability and Medical Research Charities.

Can’t wait to see you there!