Australian Journal of Financial Planning

BY   |  FRIDAY, 28 AUG 2026    11:47AM Private credit has become one of Australia's fastest-growing investment sectors, offering investors access to income opportunities outside traditional bank lending. But as the sector expands, it is also attracting greater scrutiny around transparency, asset valuations, liquidity and risk management. While private credit can provide an important source of funding and support economic growth, not all private credit strategies carry the same risk.

When investors frame the conversation about the risks of modern slavery, we tend to cite a common set of facts and a common set of arguments as to why modern slavery and other forms of human rights exploitation can bear a financial cost as well as a pose a moral challenge. Modern slavery is an umbrella term used to describe serious forms of exploitation, including forced labour, debt bondage, servitude, forced marriage and human trafficking.

In 2026, we continue to see a rapidly evolving superannuation system, with total assets reaching approximately $4.4 trillion. Growth across MySuper, Choice and retirement segments remain strong, while market concentration continues to increase, and platforms and managed accounts play an increasingly important role in how portfolios are constructed and delivered to members.

Bond markets appear overly confident that inflation will return to target. We think that confidence is misplaced. Inflation markets imply only a modest pickup in inflation before price pressures quickly moderate.

BY   |  THURSDAY, 13 AUG 2026    5:00PM The greatest challenge in retirement is not necessarily building wealth. It is having the confidence to spend it. Alongside this is another key measure squarely related to the fact that clients do not spend gross investment returns. They spend what remains after tax and fees.

The significant intergenerational wealth handover underway in Australia means trillions of dollars of inherited wealth will transfer to women. Retaining those clients will require advice firms to reconsider what valuable advice looks like to a generation of investors unlikely to automatically accept the status quo. When talking about the intergenerational wealth transfer as it relates to women, it is useful to look beyond demographic assumptions and see female clients as they actually are.

On 8 May 2026, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued an open letter to Australian financial services licensees and market participants calling for an urgent uplift in cyber resilience measures. Issued against the background of growing concern about the impact of frontier artificial intelligence (AI) on cyber risk, the letter reinforces ASIC's expectations regarding cyber governance, operational resilience and risk management under existing licence obligations.

July was a month of bad news for financial advisers on the topic of levies. The first was the Compesation Scheme as Last Resort (CSLR) levy. In early July, we learnt that the revised estimate for CSLR cost for the financial advice sector in 2026/27 had increased to $190.3 million, meaning that the Minister for Financial Services will need to enact a special levy of $170.3 million.

All love is not the same in family law-when does a relationship become a de facto relationship? For couples navigating modern relationships, the legal distinction between a romantic relationship and a de facto relationship carries profound financial implications. The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia decision in Cizek & Mihov [2024] FedCFamC1A 151 (Cizek) illustrates just how critical and complex this threshold determination can be, particularly when significant wealth is at stake.

Anyone following the financial headlines could be forgiven for thinking concentration risk is a uniquely American problem. Investors have been right to worry about the dominance of the mega-cap technology companies in the S&P 500 and MSCI World indices, where a narrow group of market leaders continue to push major global indices into record territory.