9.15am

A NEW REGIME? — THE POLITICS AND MARKETS SHAPING OUR PORTFOLIOS

Who is Australia governing for now — and what does it mean for managing wealth?

The 2026 Federal Budget did not simply set fiscal settings. It made a political program explicit. Reforms to capital gains tax, negative gearing, and discretionary trusts were not budget measures in isolation — they were the clearest expression yet of who this government is governing for, and how far it is prepared to go.

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With the Government seeking to consolidate its voter base — and its policy direction becoming clearer — individuals, advisers, and companies are now starting to digest the longer-term implications.

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More broadly, government policy is interacting with deeper structural forces — the growing influence of superannuation, stagnant productivity, rising index concentration — to complicate the case for Australian equities, and raise the question of whether a home-market bias can still be justified.

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In this opening session, our speakers address the rapidly evolving political and market environment — and the investment implications advisers now need to weigh for portfolio construction.​

Key Issues:

• From Election to Budget: The realignment behind Labor's 2025 victory, the trajectory the Budget signals, and the appetite for further reform on CGT, negative gearing, and trusts. 

• The Durability Question: Whether a resurgent One Nation disrupts Labor's coalition or consolidates it — and what a fragmenting opposition means for policy stability. 

• The Domestic Market Under Pressure: How passive super flows, rising index concentration, and stagnant productivity are reshaping Australian equities — and why broad large-cap exposure is harder to justify than in recent memory.

• Where Capital Should Sit From Here: Why policy and market structure are shifting the relative appeal of global equities, where the most compelling valuations sit today, and the portfolio decisions advisers should be making now.

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THOUGHT LEADERS:​

Kos Samaras

Director Strategy and Analytics, Redbridge Group 

Ned Bell 

Chief Investment Officer, Bell Asset Management  

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IDEA EXCHANGE - Table Discussion

• How is the policy outlook influencing your strategies for different client segments?

• What do you see as the implications of growing superannuation/passive fund flow influence on the Australian market?

• How are these political and market shifts changing the way you construct client portfolios — particularly the balance between Australian and global equities?

10.15am

MORNING TEA

10.35am

11.40am

PRIVATE CREDIT – THE ALLOCATION QUESTIONS THAT MATTER NOW
Where to play, how value is created and what it means for portfolios
 

Private credit has grown rapidly as banks retrenched and investors sought income. As the asset class matures, however, competition is increasing and the opportunity set is fragmenting.

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At the same time, headlines around stretched valuations, liquidity constraints and rising defaults have prompted some investors to question whether private markets are facing a cyclical reset or a more fundamental reassessment.

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In this environment, the question is not only how much to allocate, but where to play and how returns are generated. What differentiates genuine alpha from commoditised yield? How do managers build sourcing advantages and protect capital? And how should advisers structure private credit exposure within diversified portfolios?

Key Issues:

• Segments & Strategy: How different forms of private credit vary in risk and return.

• Alpha vs Beta: What truly drives excess returns in private credit.

• Competitive Advantage: How managers source, underwrite and structure deals to protect downside.

• Portfolio Role: How to size and position private credit as dispersion increases.

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THOUGHT LEADERS:

Frank Danieli 

Managing Director & Group Executive, Head of Global Credit Solutions, MA Financial Group

Tim Farrelly 

Co-CIO - Delta Portfolios 

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IDEA EXCHANGE - Table Discussion

• Where do you see the most attractive segments within private credit today?

• How do you distinguish genuine alpha from commoditised yield?

• How are you determining appropriate exposure and risk budgets for private credit in
  portfolios?

RETHINKING ACTIVE — GENERATING ALPHA IN TODAY’S MARKET

How changing market dynamics are reshaping the case for active management
 

Active management is facing increasing pressure. The continued rise of passive investing, fee compression, and the growing influence of systematic and momentum-driven strategies have reshaped how markets behave.

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At the same time, capital has become more concentrated in a narrow group of large companies, while dispersion beneath the surface has evolved in less predictable ways. For many managers, this has created a more complex and less forgiving environment in which to generate consistent outperformance.

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In this session, our speakers explore what it actually takes to generate alpha in today’s market — how the environment for active managers has changed in practice, what is working — and what has become more difficult — and how advisers should think about allocating to and evaluating active strategies going forward.

Key Issues:

• Changing Market Dynamics: How have flows, concentration, and systematic strategies altered the opportunity set for active managers?

• Generating Alpha Today: What is actually working, and what has become more difficult in the current environment?

• Manager Flexibility: How much latitude should advisers give managers to adapt in a more complex and rapidly evolving market?

• Process & Conviction: How investment processes, research focus, and position sizing may evolve to navigate this environment - and where are the highest-conviction opportunities today?

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THOUGHT LEADERS:

Andrew Russell

Portfolio Manager, PM Capital 

Saurav Das

Head of Research (Emerging Markets), Orbis Investments

IDEA EXCHANGE - Table Discussion

• What factors are challenging your current thinking on active management?

• Where do you believe the case for active is strongest today, and where is it weakest?

• How can we better distinguish between managers genuinely adapting to today's environment and those benefiting from favourable conditions?