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AFR Reports

This Month

ANU Professor John Blaxland, says companies can’t build skills without contracts for people to work on.

‘We need contracts to build skills’ for AUKUS

Australia’s defence build-up promises job opportunities unlike any in the country’s history. But delays in awarding contracts remain a choke point.

  • Agnes King
Romy Stein originally had trouble finding a suitable placement for her Master of Counselling course at Edith Cowan University in Perth.

Scheme aims to overcome the cycle of placement poverty

Means-tested financial help for students undertaking ‘pracs’ for certain degrees has been welcomed, but some say it should be extended to all required placements.

  • Sian Powell
Pam Harvey says face-to-face learning still matters in health

Online training helps resolve health talent crisis

Universities are making it as easy as possible for people in the country to study even very advanced tertiary healthcare courses online.

  • Alexandra Cain
Tiana Thomas is doing a master’s degree in health service management with the University of Technology, Sydney.

Online learning leads to better Indigenous health outcomes

Tiana Thomas is an example of how a greater focus on online learning by universities is helping people living in and servicing regional and remote communities.

  • Alexandra Cain
Stephen Zissermann, who is neurodiverse, has found studying online suits him better than face-to-face tuition.

How online learning helps level the playing field

Students who are ‘wired differently’ such as with ADHD can be left at a disadvantage with traditional learning methods.

  • Sian Powell
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Howell Williams is chief development officer at Keypath.

Universities integral to creating workforce of tomorrow

Postgraduate degrees are critical in helping the economy meet the skills needs for emerging areas, while helping mature age students to upskill and change career paths.

  • Julie Hare

January

Johanna Nalau, the program director of the Master of Climate Change Adaptation at Griffith University.

Postgrads enter climate workforce looking for a clean start

Demand for workers with climate skills is already increasing, as more job postings specifically cover adapting to the green transition.

  • Christopher Niesche

December 2024

Maple Brown-Abbott portfolio manager Phillip Hudak named Qualitas as his micro-cap pick for 2025.

Five ASX micro-cap stocks fund managers are buying

A miner, a telco and two technology darlings are among the micro-caps stocks fundies have named for 2025.

  • Joshua Peach
Fixed income investors are going to chase yield in 2025.

Fixed income brokers prepare for a ‘gold rush’

A surprise decision by regulators to phase out major bank hybrids has sparked a race to fill the void and meet a growing demand for income.

  • Jonathan Shapiro

These are the best performing ETFs in 2024

But the market drivers for exchange-traded funds are forecast to be quite different in 2025.

  • Alexandra Cain
James Tsinidis of Munro Partners.

Top fundies name their stock picks for 2025

From weapons makers to eye drugs and even Qantas, these are the investment opportunities fundies are watching closely in the new year.

  • Lucy Dean
Markets are loving Trump 2.0 – for now.

The five big questions for investors in 2025

After a couple of strong years, investors are right to wonder what comes next. Much depends on one very unpredictable man. 

  • James Thomson

So, you want to retire to Tuscany?

The idea of moving to Italy is alluring for retirees – la dolce vita, the food, the wine, the beauty, the prices. Just check these practicalities first.

  • Sian Powell
Mercer Wealth Pacific CEO Cathy Hales recommends all their clients to diversify their portfolios in all asset classes.

Better returns and lower volatility drive growth in private markets

Strong performance and an opportunity to align investment with social wellbeing has led to increased popularity of the alternatives market.

  • Joanne Tran

Cashed-up retail investors eye private markets

Investors are turning to private debt markets to fund commercial projects that also benefit society.

  • Nina Hendy
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Shane Forster, portfolio manager for Barings’ Asia Pacific Private Finance Group.

Retail investors invited to the private assets party

Access into private markets is being democratised as retail investors get an invite to the party.

  • Nina Hendy
AMP chief investment officer Anna Shelley.

Private markets to boom amid AI and net zero transition

The sector has emerged as a cornerstone of investment strategies as investors chase outsized returns and diversify their portfolios beyond traditional assets.

  • Michael Read
Mary Delahunty, CEO of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, says funds are working hard to develop their internal private credit capabilities.

How super funds are tapping the private credit boom

The $4 trillion sector is moving past classic unlisted assets to look at private debt, more creative private equity, social infrastructure and energy transition assets.

  • Hannah Wootton

November 2024

Fast 100 founders: Outcast cofounder Paris Marchant, MCo Beauty founder Shelley Sullivan, and Medevac Flights founder William Cassidy.

Revealed: Australia’s fastest-growing companies in 2024

In a tough consumer environment, this year’s Fast 100 and Fast Starters finalists have managed to find their niche.

  • Victoria Thieberger

Why this entrepreneur does tech differently

From food to climate, innovators saw problems in the tech sector and took action to make things right.

  • Christopher Niesche

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/afr-reports-6g1b