What I learnt in 3 months as an MBA student at a top US school
It's an event filled with former students, or 'Boothies', and hanging with rock star alumni appears to be standard in this network of elite MBA graduates. Mansueto (MBA class of 1980) specifically mentions in his keynote how his company likes recruiting from the university.
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SBS Australia
18-07-2025
- SBS Australia
Is Australia's cost of living crisis really becoming a 'thing of the past'?
There are signs the cost of living crisis affecting Australians during years of high inflation could be easing, analysts say, but some charity groups warn rising wealth inequality mean the pain is not lessening for everyone. Deputy director of the Anglicare charity Maiy Azize told SBS News: "It's really frustrating" for people to hear speculation on whether the cost of living crisis is over, because millions of Australians are still struggling to afford essentials. "We've had years of big price increases for things like food, things like fuel. Electricity has never been more expensive. Energy debts are really high, and of course rents have never been higher," she said. Anglicare has not seen any measurable drop off in people requiring its charity services, she said. "We're definitely not seeing any kind of slow down in the number of people who are coming to us for things like emergency relief, for things like bill assistance, financial counselling, that's certainly not improving, she said." "I think when people hear things like, 'oh, the cost of living is getting better', they might think that actual relief is in sight and things might be getting a bit cheaper. But in reality things aren't getting cheaper for them. They don't need our help any less." Household spending ticks up Investment research company Morningstar published a report this month telling retail investors the cost of living crisis would become a "thing of the past", as people start to spend more on non-essential items. Commonwealth Bank analysis shows household spending rose for a third consecutive month in June, up 0.3 per cent following gains of 0.4 per cent in April and May. "Household spending is starting to show signs of consistency month-on-month and should continue to pick up this year as consumers begin to loosen their purse strings," the bank's senior economist Belinda Allen said in a statement earlier this month. "This recovery is taking longer than expected to occur, but there are green shoots emerging." Many had expected the bank to lower the cash rate in line with inflation — the Consumer Price Index figure for May came in at 2.1 per cent, down from 2.4 per cent in April. Commonwealth Bank analysis shows household spending rose for a third consecutive month in June, up 0.3 per cent following gains of 0.4 per cent in April and May. Source: Getty / Traceydee Photography The annual trimmed mean inflation — which doesn't include major price swings and is the RBA's preferred measure — was at 2.4 per cent, down from 2.8 per cent in April. Morningstar chief investment officer for the Asia Pacific, Matt Wacher, said falling inflation means Australians could be feeling more confident about spending money. "In real terms, adjusted for inflation, household incomes are actually growing again in real terms, which they weren't for quite a period there," he said. "That kind of makes people feel that there's a bit more money in their hip pocket when they're actually earning more than the inflation rate again." Wacher said that the savings rate — the percentage of their income Australian households are able to save — has rebounded since a low of about 1.5 per cent in September 2023. In the March quarter it rose to 5.2 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Reasons for optimism, or a crisis still 'far from over'? Further argument for optimism in the economy is the fact the RBA is likely to lower the official cash rate even further, Wacher said. "The market is still pricing in four rate cuts over the next 12 months, and that would certainly have a very large effect if that was to come through on consumer balance sheets," he said. But Australians aren't necessarily going to feel like they are out of the woods, the Australia Institute's senior economist, Matt Grudnoff, said. "People are likely to still be feeling the pinch," he said. "When people talk about inflation easing, they don't mean that prices are going backwards, they just mean that they're not increasing as fast as they once were." Grudnoff said Australians with mortgages haven't changed their behaviour significantly since the RBA started introducing rate cuts. "Around 80 per cent of people haven't adjusted their repayments [since the cute were introduced]," he said. "So effectively, rather than taking the extra money, people are just paying down debt faster, which suggests that they're not increasing their spending in response to this cutting interest rates, which tells me that they're still quite worried and uncertain about the future." Australians with mortgages haven't changed their behaviour significantly since the RBA started introducing rate cuts, according to economist Matt Grudnoff. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi When people are uncertain and worried about the economy, "their first reaction is to kind of pay down debt and get ahead in order to build a buffer against any future kind of shock," he said. "If unemployment is going up, people might be worried about their jobs. The economy's growth is almost flat so they're worried about their jobs and if they're uncertain and worried, they're not going to be rushing out and spending on discretionary items." Australian Council Of Social Service CEO Cassandra Goldie said the cost of living crisis is "far from over". "There are persistent cost pressures that are placing people on low incomes under enormous financial stress," she said. "Housing affordability has continued to deteriorate, while rental stress has become more persistent and is damaging people's health."
News.com.au
18-07-2025
- News.com.au
Australia's largest companies face another year of falling profits
Australia's blue chip companies' profits are tipped to fall for a third year in a row, with investors warned that eventually 'something has to give'. In its latest investment note, Morningstar said the top end of the Australian market could be overvalued, with earnings not keeping up with share price growth. Morningstar predicts the ASX 200 'earnings recession' will continue with Australia's largest companies profits falling by one per cent in the 2025 financial year. This follows falls of 10 per cent in 2023 and four per cent last year. Morningstar market strategist Lochlan Halloway said while the other index continued to rise, Australia's largest businesses — from an earnings point of view — were actually falling. 'Eventually, something's got to give — either earnings catch up to lofty prices, or valuations rebase to reflect the reality of slower growth,' Mr Halloway said. 'This disconnect between prices and profits goes a long way to explaining why valuations look so stretched at the top end of the market. The warning comes as businesses are set to release their June 30 results throughout the month of August. According to Morningstar, the results could be bleak with the ASX 20 earnings tipped to fall by a cumulative 15 per cent in the three years until 2025. Despite the businesses themselves falling, share prices for the ASX 20 as a collective is up 30 per cent over the same period. By Morningstar's estimations, the ASX 20 is currently running at a premium of about 20 per cent compared to fair value — a level that has rarely been seen in the past decade. Mr Halloway said the main culprit would be the mining stocks, which would once again soften due to weaker commodity prices following the post-Covid boom. 'Financials, our largest sector, should deliver modest growth, but mid-single-digit gains aren't nearly enough to offset the miners' slump,' he said. The call comes as the Australian sharemarket pushed to a new record high over the past week, with markets ignoring tariff uncertainty and weaker local economic data. As of 3.30pm on Friday, the ASX was up 2.2 per cent for the week — its strongest gains since April 10. AMP chief economist and head of investment strategy said the Australian market jumped on the news of softer jobs data, which left the RBA on track to cut rates again in August. 'With unemployment breaking to its highest since the pandemic, and June jobs data showing broad-based weakness, it's now hard to describe the labour market as tight,' he wrote in an investment note.
AU Financial Review
14-07-2025
- AU Financial Review
Australia's top stocks fund seals golden year with rare 100pc return
Boutique manager Paragon has topped Morningstar's list of Australia's best stock-pickers for the 2025 financial year after its hedge fund achieved the rare feat of doubling investors' money. The $69.2 million commodity-focused long short strategy rode the blistering rally in precious metals, and wave of deal activity, to generate a whopping 102.5 per cent return for the 12-month period. That was nearly double the next best Australian-domiciled equity fund tracked by Morningstar.
