Australian Investors Podcast

In this week’s 2 Sense, Owen and Drew tackle a bigger question than one stock or one budget line item: is Australia getting worse at creating wealth?

Rask Wealth Checker: https://rask.au/wealth-checker

That opens a sharp conversation about tax chatter, policy drift and why uncertainty can make it harder for founders, investors and workers to build long-term value. The episode also revisits CSL, touches on private credit noise, and asks what matters when headlines get louder than fundamentals.

It is a useful reminder that great businesses can still be overhyped, and that policy settings can shape how willing people are to build, invest and take risk.

The listener question is a beauty: how do you value a private business? Owen and Drew explain why valuation is part maths, part judgement. They unpack EBITDA multiples, growth, repeatability, owner dependence and why what a business is worth to you can differ from what a buyer will pay.

If you want practical market commentary with a founder’s lens, this one delivers.

Episode resources

Speak with the Rask Advice team

Ask a question (select the Investors podcast)

Show partner resources

ETF investor? Go beyond ordinary with Global X: View all funds

Visit TermPlus to learn more

Have the chance to win a 5k travel voucher. Take the TermPlus survey here (last entry 31st of May)

Rask Resources

All services

Financial Planning

Invest with us

Access Show Notes

Ask a question

We love feedback!

Follow us on social media

Instagram: @rask.invest

TikTok: @rask.invest

DISCLAIMER: This podcast contains general financial information only. That means the information does not take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Because of that, you should consider if the information is appropriate to you and your needs, before acting on it. If you’re confused about what that means or what your needs are, you should always consult a licensed and trusted financial planner. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this podcast, including any financial, taxation, and/or legal information. Remember, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The Rask Group is NOT a qualified tax accountant, financial (tax) adviser, or financial adviser. Access The Rask Group's Financial Services Guide (FSG): https://www.rask.com.au/fsg
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Australian Investors Podcast episode, Mitch sits down with Nick Sladen for a deep dive into Cogstate and why it may be one of the more compelling ASX healthcare names right now.

Alzheimer's and broader central nervous system diseases are becoming more important as populations age, and Nick explains why that matters for Cogstate. The company plays a small but critical role in clinical trials, helping large pharmaceutical groups run cognitive testing with higher accuracy, cleaner data and stronger regulatory confidence. With more than 20 years of accumulated testing data, Cogstate has built an edge that is hard to replicate quickly.

Mitch and Nick also unpack the numbers behind the bull case. They discuss strong margins, net cash, a share buyback, dividend flexibility and why AI could improve throughput rather than undermine the business model. The conversation also goes beyond Alzheimer's into rare disease, depression, schizophrenia and sleep trials, plus the role partnerships like Medidata could play in widening the opportunity set.

They finish by testing the risks, including pharma spending cycles, execution, competition and the possibility that AI changes parts of the workflow over time. If you want a practical breakdown of a high-quality small-cap healthcare business with structural tailwinds, this episode is well worth your time.

Episode resources

Speak with the Rask Advice team

Ask a question (select the Investors podcast)

Show partner resources

ETF investor? Go beyond ordinary with Global X: View all funds

Visit TermPlus to learn more

Have the chance to win a 5k travel voucher. Take the TermPlus survey here (last entry 31st of May)

Rask Resources

All services

Financial Planning

Invest with us

Access Show Notes

Ask a question

We love feedback!

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @rask.invest

TikTok: @rask.invest

DISCLAIMER: This podcast contains general financial information only. That means the information does not take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Because of that, you should consider if the information is appropriate to you and your needs, before acting on it. If you’re confused about what that means or what your needs are, you should always consult a licensed and trusted financial planner. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this podcast, including any financial, taxation, and/or legal information. Remember, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The Rask Group is NOT a qualified tax accountant, financial (tax) adviser, or financial adviser. Access The Rask Group's Financial Services Guide (FSG): https://www.rask.com.au/fsg
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of 2-Sense, Owen and Drew ask a big question: is Warren Buffett falling behind in 2026, or is Berkshire Hathaway just investing on a different timetable to everyone else? They unpack Buffett’s huge Apple exposure, Berkshire’s growing cash pile and the broader debate around whether AI is changing the investing playbook or simply changing what investors are paying attention to right now.

The conversation then swings back to Australia, with a close look at Magellan’s decision to outsource management of its global equities funds. Owen and Drew explore what the move says about the business, why it matters when a once-dominant fund manager changes course, and what investors should watch from here. They also dive into the May budget chatter, from capital gains tax and negative gearing to new housing incentives and the knock-on effects policy changes can have on wealth creation.

There’s more on Bluey’s blockbuster economics, company news from Coles, ANZ and NAB, thoughts on Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft, plus a practical buy, hold or sell-style discussion to round things out.

Episode resources

Speak with the Rask Advice team

Ask a question (select the Investors podcast)

Show partner resources

ETF investor? Go beyond ordinary with Global X: View all funds

Visit TermPlus to learn more

Have the chance to win a 5k travel voucher. Take the TermPlus survey here (last entry 31st of May)

Rask Resources

All services

Financial Planning

Invest with us

Access Show Notes

Ask a question

We love feedback!

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @rask.invest

TikTok: @rask.invest

DISCLAIMER: This podcast contains general financial information only. That means the information does not take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Because of that, you should consider if the information is appropriate to you and your needs, before acting on it. If you’re confused about what that means or what your needs are, you should always consult a licensed and trusted financial planner. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this podcast, including any financial, taxation, and/or legal information. Remember, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The Rask Group is NOT a qualified tax accountant, financial (tax) adviser, or financial adviser. Access The Rask Group's Financial Services Guide (FSG): https://www.rask.com.au/fsg
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dimensional Fund Advisors has quietly built one of the most respected investment firms in the world on the back of Nobel Prize-winning academic research. In this episode, Mitchell Sneddon sits down with Bhanu Singh, Australian CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors and head of the world's largest active ETF manager, to unpack the philosophy, factors and discipline behind the firm.

Bhanu walks through the legendary names on Dimensional's board and advisory panel — Eugene Fama, Kenneth French, Robert Merton, Myron Scholes and Merton Miller — and explains how their work on efficient markets, the Fama-French factor model, options pricing and arbitrage shaped modern finance and indexing as we know it.

The Topics:

- How Dimensional translates academic research into real-world portfolios

- The five factors driving expected returns: market beta, size, value, profitability and investment

- Why market efficiency doesn't mean passive indexing

- How Dimensional trades 95% of equities in-house using its proprietary tick database

- Why 80%+ of active managers underperform their benchmarks over the long run

- The truth about home bias, yield obsession and concentration risk in Australian portfolios

- Why thematic ETFs are often sold, not bought

- The cultural reason Dimensional has never closed a fund

Resources for this episode

Speak with the Rask Advice team

Ask a question (select the Investors podcast)

Show partner resources

ETF investor? Go beyond ordinary with Global X: View all funds

Visit TermPlus to learn more

Have the chance to win a 5k travel voucher. Take the TermPlus survey here (last entry 31st of May)

Rask Resources

All services

Financial Planning

Invest with us

Access Show Notes

Ask a question

We love feedback!

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @rask.invest

TikTok: @rask.invest

DISCLAIMER:

This podcast contains general financial information only. That means the information does not take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Because of that, you should consider if the information is appropriate to you and your needs, before acting on it. If you’re confused about what that means or what your needs are, you should always consult a licensed and trusted financial planner. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this podcast, including any financial, taxation, and/or legal information. Remember, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The Rask Group is NOT a qualified tax accountant, financial (tax) adviser, or financial adviser. Access The Rask Group's Financial Services Guide (FSG): https://www.rask.com.au/fsg
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Australian Investors Podcast, Owen Rask and Drew Meredith tackle a question that would spook plenty of income investors: what should you do if your shares land on the most shorted list?

That opens a broader discussion about dividend traps, earnings risk and whether a big yield is actually a warning sign. The pair also dig into recent results from Tesla, Microsoft, American Express and Lululemon, and what those numbers may be saying about spending, margins, capital investment and market expectations.

Topics covered

- The most shorted ASX shares and dividend trap risk

- Tesla, Microsoft, American Express and Lululemon results

- Passive income ETF portfolios and why total return still matters

- When high yield becomes a warning sign for investors

- Property, CGT and shifting capital into ETFs

The back half of the episode turns practical, with Owen and Drew unpacking passive income ETF portfolios, liquidity, and how investors can think about income and diversification when cash rates are no longer near zero. They also tackle the CGT trade-off many Australians face when deciding whether to keep holding property or rotate some capital into ETFs.

Resources for this episode

Speak with the Rask Advice team

Ask a question (select the Investors podcast)

Show partner resources

ETF investor? Go beyond ordinary with Global X: View all funds

Visit TermPlus to learn more

Have the chance to win a 5k travel voucher. Take the TermPlus survey here (last entry 31st of May)

Rask Resources

All services

Financial Planning

Invest with us

Access Show Notes

Ask a question

We love feedback!

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @rask.invest

TikTok: @rask.invest

DISCLAIMER

This podcast contains general financial information only. That means the information does not take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for your situation before acting on it. If you’re unsure, consult a licensed financial planner. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is NOT a qualified tax accountant, financial adviser, or tax professional. You can access The Rask Group’s Financial Services Guide (FSG) here: https://www.rask.com.au/fsg
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices