Investing Compass

We go through lessons for ASX stocks, ETFs and LICs that have delivered over the past decade.You can find Marks stock article here, and ETF and LIC article here.Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here.Get 50% off your first two months of PocketSmith’s Foundation or Flourish plans here.A message from Mark and ShaniFor the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar.We’ve shared our journeys with you, and you’ve shared back. We’ve listened to what you’re after and created a companion for your investing journey. Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications.The book is now available! It is also available in Audiobook format from most sellers.Purchase from Amazon or Purchase from BooktopiaTo submit any questions or feedback, please email mark.lamonica1@morningstar.com or leave us a voicemail to feature on the podcast here.Audio Producer and mixer: William Ton.

Professional investors operate in a very different environment from individuals. Their careers, compensation, and business objectives are often tied to performance relative to a benchmark. They manage large pools of capital and are supported by teams of analysts, access to sophisticated data, and significant research resources. But those advantages also come with constraints that shape how they invest. We run through why these constraints might mean a mismatch between their opportunities and top picks, and yours.Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here.Get 50% off your first two months of PocketSmith’s Foundation or Flourish plans here.A message from Mark and ShaniFor the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar.We’ve shared our journeys with you, and you’ve shared back. We’ve listened to what you’re after and created a companion for your investing journey. Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications.The book is now available! It is also available in Audiobook format from most sellers.Purchase from Amazon or Purchase from BooktopiaTo submit any questions or feedback, please email mark.lamonica1@morningstar.com or leave us a voicemail to feature on the podcast here.Audio Producer and mixer: William Ton.

After more than a decade where US technology stocks dominated global markets, late 2025 and early 2026 saw signs of a rotation. Less glamorous sectors like industrials and consumer staples, companies often considered ‘boring’ began to outperform the high-flying tech names that had captured investors’ attention for years. We revisit the work of Bob Haugen, a pioneering quantitative investor and academic who spent much of his career challenging a core assumption in finance: that higher risk should lead to higher returns. Haugen argued the opposite - that lower-volatility stocks often outperform higher-volatility stocks over time.You can find the full article here.Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here.A message from Mark and ShaniFor the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar.We’ve shared our journeys with you, and you’ve shared back. We’ve listened to what you’re after and created a companion for your investing journey. Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications.The book is now available! It is also available in Audiobook format from most sellers.Purchase from Amazon or Purchase from BooktopiaTo submit any questions or feedback, please email mark.lamonica1@morningstar.com or leave us a voicemail to feature on the podcast here.Audio Producer and mixer: William Ton.

Investors are often told that success comes from optimisation: lower fees, better tax outcomes, and the highest possible expected returns. In this episode we explore why the most efficient financial decision isn’t always the one that leads to the best life.You can find the full article here.Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here.A message from Mark and ShaniFor the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar.We’ve shared our journeys with you, and you’ve shared back. We’ve listened to what you’re after and created a companion for your investing journey. Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications.The book is now available! It is also available in Audiobook format from most sellers.Purchase from Amazon or Purchase from BooktopiaTo submit any questions or feedback, please email mark.lamonica1@morningstar.com or leave us a voicemail to feature on the podcast here.Audio Producer and mixer: William Ton.

Helping family members financially is common. Parents may contribute to a house deposit, grandparents might support education costs, or relatives may step in during difficult times. But financial gifts can have far reaching consequences that are easy to overlook. In this episode, we explore the key issues investors should consider before transferring money or assets to loved ones.You can find the full article here.Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here.A message from Mark and ShaniFor the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar.We’ve shared our journeys with you, and you’ve shared back. We’ve listened to what you’re after and created a companion for your investing journey. Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications.The book is now available! It is also available in Audiobook format from most sellers.Purchase from Amazon or Purchase from BooktopiaTo submit any questions or feedback, please email mark.lamonica1@morningstar.com or leave us a voicemail to feature on the podcast here.Audio Producer and mixer: William Ton.

Australia’s financial system - through tax policy, superannuation and retirement benchmarks implicitly assume that retirees own their own homes. Home ownership dramatically changes the amount Australians need to save for retirement. So, what if you don’t own and rent in retirement? This is an increasingly likely scenario for many Australians given the state of our housing market.  Mark and Shani run through potential solutions in this episode, and modelling for how to achieve a comfortable retirement.You can find the full article here.To get 50% off a 12-month Australian Shareholder's Association membership, click here and enter the code MORNING50. Disclaimer: This offer is valid for new ASA members only and cannot be applied to renewals or existing memberships.Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here.A message from Mark and ShaniFor the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar.We’ve shared our journeys with you, and you’ve shared back. We’ve listened to what you’re after and created a companion for your investing journey. Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications.The book is now available! It is also available in Audiobook format from most sellers.Purchase from Amazon or Purchase from BooktopiaTo submit any questions or feedback, please email mark.lamonica1@morningstar.com or leave us a voicemail to feature on the podcast here.Audio Producer and mixer: William Ton.

The financial services industry tends to focus on how important it is to get started as early as possible. Starting to invest in your 20s provides a powerful advantage through compounding, but investors in their 30s, 40s and 50s have significant opportunities to build wealth and meaningfully improve financial outcomes. Mark and Shani look at how to harness these advantages.Read the full article here.To get 50% off a 12-month Australian Shareholder's Association membership, click here and enter the code MORNING50. Disclaimer: This offer is valid for new ASA members only and cannot be applied to renewals or existing memberships.Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here.A message from Mark and ShaniFor the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar.We’ve shared our journeys with you, and you’ve shared back. We’ve listened to what you’re after and created a companion for your investing journey. Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications.The book is now available! It is also available in Audiobook format from most sellers.Purchase from Amazon or Purchase from BooktopiaTo submit any questions or feedback, please email mark.lamonica1@morningstar.com or leave us a voicemail to feature on the podcast here.Audio Producer and mixer: William Ton.

The issue with investing in broad market index products is that you are anything but a passive investor. Owning the market does not mean that you own everything equally. When you look closely, many of the most popular ETFs in Australia embed a set of structural bets that can materially shape outcomes over time. Mark and Shani run through these exposures in common passive ETFs, and alternatives for investors that need it.Read the full article here.To get 50% off a 12-month Australian Shareholder's Association membership, click here and enter the code MORNING50. Disclaimer: This offer is valid for new ASA members only and cannot be applied to renewals or existing memberships.Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here.A message from Mark and ShaniFor the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar.We’ve shared our journeys with you, and you’ve shared back. We’ve listened to what you’re after and created a companion for your investing journey. Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications.The book is now available! It is also available in Audiobook format from most sellers.Purchase from Amazon or Purchase from BooktopiaTo submit any questions or feedback, please email mark.lamonica1@morningstar.com or leave us a voicemail to feature on the podcast here.Audio Producer and mixer: William Ton.

Mark and Shani discuss the lessons that investors can take from the GFC.Would you like more free insights from Mark, Shani and the rest of the Morningstar team? You can find them here.You can read the full article here.A message from Mark and ShaniFor the past five years, we’ve released a weekly podcast to arm you with the tools to invest successfully. We’ve always strived to provide independent, thoughtful analysis, backed by the work of hundreds of researchers and professionals at Morningstar.We’ve shared our journeys with you, and you’ve shared back. We’ve listened to what you’re after and created a companion for your investing journey. Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications.The book is now available! It is also available in Audiobook format from most sellers.Purchase from Amazon or Purchase from BooktopiaTo submit any questions or feedback, please email mark.lamonica1@morningstar.com or leave us a voicemail to feature on the podcast here.Audio Producer and mixer: William Ton.