Author: openjargon

The Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) share price is in focus after announcing it will acquire Paradino, an AI-enabled adviser workflow automation business, for a total upfront consideration of $20 million. Netwealth will also invest an additional $10 million over two years to support Paradino’s growth and technology development.

What did Netwealth report?

• Acquisition of 100% of Paradino for $20 million (upfront), with up to $9 million in earn-out and retention payments over four years
• Additional $10 million to be invested in Paradino’s product roadmap and capability
• Paradino has annual recurring revenue of $1.6 million and supports over 500 financial advisers
• Paradino’s EBITDA for FY27 is projected to be a loss of approximately $3 million
• The transaction is not expected to have a material near-term impact on Netwealth’s earnings and existing guidance is maintained

What else do investors need to know?

Netwealth’s acquisition of Paradino significantly expands its adviser platform capabilities. Until now, Netwealth’s main focus has been on platform administration and implementation, but this deal brings advice workflow automation and specialist AI engineering expertise in-house.

Paradino automates some of the most time-consuming elements of financial advice, such as file notes, Statements of Advice, and advice presentations. This is designed to directly address adviser capacity constraints – freeing up more time to spend with clients and helping advisers serve a greater number of people across Australia.

Paradino brings a strong track record, having rapidly grown its subscriber base and recurring revenue since launch, with a churn rate of less than 1%. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Netwealth’s long-term growth prospects and support the company’s Dx30 ambition of improving adviser productivity.

What did Netwealth management say?

Matt Heine, CEO and Managing Director of Netwealth, said:

Our focus is on supporting advisers to grow their businesses and achieve their ambitions. A key part of this is helping advisers increase productivity so they can support more clients and spend more time delivering advice. This acquisition expands Netwealth’s capability beyond platform administration into key advice workflows, increasing our support for advisers across a larger part of the advice process. Together, we believe we can create Australia’s leading AI-enabled wealth management and adviser productivity platform. By combining Paradino’s workflow capability with Netwealth’s platform, data and adviser ecosystem, we look forward to helping our existing and future adviser clients operate more efficiently, improve outcomes for their clients and support the growth of both businesses. This will also help unlock the full value of our Unify data management platform and further drive AI-enabled automated processes. The transaction is consistent with our disciplined approach to capital allocation and adds an important strategic capability that will generate meaningful long-term growth.

What’s next for Netwealth?

Completion of the Paradino acquisition is targeted for the end of October 2026, subject to standard closing conditions. After completion, Netwealth will invest $10 million over two years to speed up Paradino’s product development and expand capability for advisers nationwide.

Netwealth intends to progressively integrate Paradino’s automation and artificial intelligence technology across its broader platform. This forms part of its strategy to support greater adviser productivity, deepen client relationships, and strengthen its leadership in wealth management technology.

Netwealth share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Netwealth shares have declined 38%, trailing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which has declined 1% over the same period.

View Original Announcement

The post Netwealth to acquire AI platform Paradino, boosting adviser automation appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Laura Stewart has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Netwealth Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Netwealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips. This article was prepared with the assistance of Large Language Model (LLM) tools for the initial summary of the company announcement. Any content assisted by AI is subject to our robust human-in-the-loop quality control framework, involving thorough review, substantial editing, and fact-checking by our experienced writers and editors holding appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content published by The Motley Fool Australia.

CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) shares have staged a sharp recovery, gaining around 26% over the past month despite remaining down 17% in the past year.

By comparison the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell 5% in a month and lost almost 1% over 12 months.

After falling 5% across the previous trading days, the ASX blue-chip stock bounced 3% on Monday to $171.57, reigniting the question: how much further can this recovery run?

From deeply beaten down to recovery mode

To understand CSL’s rebound, it helps to remember how severely the market had punished CSL shares.

At one point, CSL was trading around $90, a level not seen for more than a decade. Even the COVID-19 market sell-off failed to push the stock that low.

Investors appeared to be pricing in a prolonged deterioration in the company’s earnings. Then came the FY26 result, which delivered a painful set of numbers but also appeared to give the market a cleaner starting point.

CSL reported a US$2.6 billion net loss, following US$7.1 billion of pre-tax impairments and US$799 million in restructuring costs. Much of this was non-cash, with CSL Vifor accounting for a substantial portion of the impairments.

Look beneath the headline loss, however, and the picture was less alarming. Underlying NPATA declined just 2% to US$3.1 billion, while revenue fell 1% to US$15.8 billion, ahead of expectations.

That helped investors focus on what CSL could look like after the reset.

FY27 is the next big test

The recovery now rests heavily on CSL’s FY27 outlook.

Management expects underlying NPAT to grow about 5%, ahead of consensus expectations for roughly 2% growth. Behring is expected to deliver mid-single-digit growth, supported by immunoglobulin sales forecast to increase at a mid-to-high single-digit rate.

Vifor remains the weak spot. Revenue is expected to fall around 25% as generic competition hits its iron products.

The bullish argument is that Behring’s scale can increasingly offset Vifor’s decline. Consensus forecasts currently put earnings per CSL share at about $9.00 in FY27, $9.50 in FY28 and $10.10 in FY29.

At $171.57, that puts CSL shares on roughly 19 times forecast FY27 earnings. That’s not obviously cheap, but it could prove reasonable if the expected earnings recovery materialises.

Do brokers see more upside?

Several major brokers remain positive following the rally.

UBS has a buy rating on CSL shares and a $181 price target, while Morgan Stanley is overweight with a $182 target. Morgans is also bullish, with a buy rating and a $187.71 target.

Those targets suggest roughly 6% to 10% potential upside from around $171.

Macquarie is considerably more cautious, however, with a neutral rating and a target of roughly $133.

So, CSL shares may still have room to run, but the easy part of the recovery could be behind them. The key question now is whether earnings can catch up with the share price.

The post CSL shares have surged over 25%. Do brokers see more upside? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• CSL shares just fell 5% after a strong rally. Is the recovery losing steam?
• Are ASX shares heading for a crash? Here’s how I’m preparing

Motley Fool contributor Marc Van Dinther has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

We can buy a wide range of ASX shares. Some get little investor attention, while others are rated buys by many analysts.

When numerous investment professionals think a stock is a buy, it could suggest there’s a clear opportunity.

Let’s look at two of the ASX shares with the biggest number of buy ratings right now.

ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ)

ALS describes itself as a global leader in testing. It says it provides comprehensive testing solutions to clients in a wide range of industries around the world. Its two main segments are commodities and life sciences.

FY26 was a strong year for the ASX share, with 10.7% growth of revenue, 19.3% growth of underlying operating profit (EBIT) and 25.8% growth of underlying net profit after tax (NPAT).

The company has started FY27 well, stating that it’s on track to deliver high-single-digit organic revenue growth and margin improvement consistent with FY26.

The commodities business’ organic revenue growth is trending above the 15% to 17% guided range for the first half, with continuation of the positive exploration conditions and activity levels from the junior miners continuing to grow and outpace major and mid-tier miners.

ALS’ life sciences division’s organic revenue growth has improved from the second half of FY26, but it’s still below mid-single-digit expectations.

According to CMC Invest, analysts have made six rating calls on the business in the last three months. Five of them were buy ratings, and one was a hold.

Cuscal Ltd (ASX: CCL)

Cuscal is the other ASX share I want to highlight. It’s an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) with the licences, connectivity and processing capability to support all payment types and regulated data services. It was only listed on the ASX in November 2024.

The company says that the combination of these capabilities and credentials within a single organisation in Australia is limited to the four major ASX bank shares and Cuscal.

Cuscal had a solid FY26 – statutory NPAT rose by 49% to $42.7 million. Underlying net profit rose 20% to $46.2 million, and underlying net operating income grew 20% to $347.7 million.

It acquired Indue on 1 December 2025 and Paymark on 29 May 2026, adding around $40 million to its net operating income. Those acquisitions increased its scale, strengthened its position across Australia and New Zealand, and expanded its range of payment capabilities it provides to clients.

The ASX share expects to deliver “strong profit growth” in FY27, supported by resilient transaction volumes, the acquisitions and cost management. It expects FY27 to show growth in the mid-20 % range for both transaction volumes and underlying net profit.

According to CMC Invest, there have been five analyst ratings on the business in the last three months, with four of those being a buy and one being a hold.

The post 2 ASX shares highly recommended to buy: Experts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Investing some of your superannuation savings into ASX dividend shares is a popular and proven way to earn lifestyle-boosting passive income during your retirement years.

But if your aim is to invest $400,000 of your superannuation into ASX shares, then how much passive income might you reasonably expect to earn from that super investment each year?

We’ll have a look at three quality S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dividend stocks below to get a handle on that answer.

But first, some important reminders.

Dividend traps, diversity and trailing yields

How much passive income you can earn from your $400,000 superannuation investment will depend on the yield you receive, with the idea being you don’t draw down your initial capital investment.

Now, it’s tempting to chase the top yielding stocks. But beware you don’t fall into the dividend trap. A lot of the top yielding ASX stocks you’ll see listed have also suffered large share price falls. This could signal further troubles ahead as well as lower future dividend payouts.

Also, bear in mind that while we’ll look at three ASX dividend shares below, a properly diversified passive income portfolio will contain a lot more than just three ASX stocks. There’s no magic number, but 15 is a decent target. Ideally, these companies will operate in various sectors and locations. This will reduce the risk of a material decline in your passive income if any single company or sector takes a hit.

And finally, remember that the yields you generally see quoted are trailing yields. Future yields may be higher or lower depending on a range of company specific and macroeconomic factors.

With that said…

Investing $400,000 of superannuation in ASX passive income shares

The first ASX 200 dividend stock I’d consider investing some of my $400,000 of superannuation savings into is Aussie fuel supplier Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD).

Recently trading for $42.04 each, Ampol shares have gained 40.3% in 12 months. So, no dividend trap here.

As for that passive income, Ampol paid (or will shortly pay) two fully franked dividends over the last year, totalling $2.45 a share. That sees Ampol shares trading on a fully franked trailing dividend yield of 5.8%.

Next, I’d invest some of my super into Australian fitout and construction services specialist Shape Australia Corporation Ltd (ASX: SHA).

Recently trading for $6.99 a share, Shape stock has gained 43.7% in 12 months.

Shape also paid (or shortly will pay) two fully franked dividends over the year, totalling 32 cents a share. This sees Shape trading on a fully franked dividend yield of 4.8%.

And the third ASX dividend share I’d target is big four Aussie bank stock ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ).

Recently trading for $37.47, the ANZ share price is up 13.6% in 12 months.

Over this time, ANZ paid two partly franked dividends totalling $1.66 per share. ANZ trades on a partly franked trailing dividend yield of 4.4%.

To the maths!

If you were to invest an equal amount of your $400,000 superannuation allotment to each of the above ASX 200 dividend stocks, you could expect to earn a yield of 5.0%.

Atop potential future share price gains, you could then expect to earn an extra $20,000 a year in passive income from that super investment.

The post How much passive income can I earn investing $400,000 of my superannuation buying ASX shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• How much superannuation do I need to earn $100 a day in passive income?

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Shape Australia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

ASX blue-chip shares could be a strong choice in the current economic climate. Market leaders can be attractive because they can deliver resilient earnings in uncertain times.

I think the right sort of investment could be one that gives both pleasing passive income and the potential for long-term capital gains.

The two ASX shares I’m going to highlight both have pleasing track records of payouts and underlying earnings growth.  Let’s dive in.

Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP)

This first business is a real estate investment trust (REIT) which is Australia’s leading pure play industrial REIT.

Industrial properties in well-located areas are in high demand these days, driven by e-commerce adoption, data centres, increased demand for refrigerated space (for medicine and food), the onshoring of supply chains, and more.

The rising rental potential of the properties is boosting the reported rental income. FY26 saw strong like-for-like net operating income growth of 5.2%, The business also reported a 4% increase of the funds from operations (FFO) – the net rental income – to $114.1 million.

Impressively, the ASX blue-chip share experienced 30% positive re-leasing spreads during FY26. That means its newly signed rental leases are generating 30% more rent than the old lease, so it’s seeing significant rental growth.

Considering the business has a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of around seven years and the portfolio is on average 17% under-rented, I think there could be a solid level of rental growth in the next few years as other leases come up for renewal.

It expects to grow its FFO by up to 5.5% in FY27, and the distribution could grow by another 3% to 17.3 cents per unit. That would translate into a forward dividend yield of 6.1% at the time of writing.

JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH)

In my view, JB Hi-Fi is one of the leading ASX retail shares. The company sells a wide range of electronics, including phones, tablets, computers, wearables, and more.

The JB Hi-Fi share price has fallen by more than 40% in the past year, which has significantly boosted the dividend for prospective investors. It’s true that economic conditions are weaker than they were a year ago, but I don’t think that justifies such a sharp decline in the valuation.

ASX blue-chip share valuations are meant to take into account the long-term potential, not just shorter-term challenges.

In my view, this decline is an opportunistic time to buy into a business with a strong market position. It has the attributes to excel in all economic conditions – it has a very productive sales floor, low costs, very competitive product prices and so on.

In terms of the potential payout, the projection on Commsec suggests the business could pay an annual dividend of $3.35 in FY27. That translates into a grossed-up dividend yield of 7.4%, including franking credits. The forecasts currently suggest the payout could grow in FY28 and again in FY29, so this could be a great time to buy.

Overall, both ASX blue-chip shares offer compelling dividend yields.

The post 2 ASX blue-chip shares offering big dividend yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How much is needed in superannuation to target a $6,500 monthly passive income?
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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) and Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) shares have both taken a big step backwards over the past year.

On Monday afternoon, Boss Energy shares were trading for $1.47 apiece, putting the ASX uranium stock down 20.7% in 12 months.

Fortescue shares have fared a bit better. But at Monday’s $16.63 a share, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant is down 12.1% in a year.

Now, while down from FY 2025, Fortescue did make two fully franked dividend payments over the last year, totalling $1.08 per share. At the recent share price, the stock trades on a 6.5% fully franked trailing dividend yield

But that passive income isn’t enough to draw in RaaS Group’s Joshua Baker, who issued a sell recommendation on both ASX shares this week (courtesy of The Bull).

Here’s why.

Time to exit Fortescue shares?

Commenting on Fortescue’s FY 2026 results, reported on 20 August, Baker said, “The iron ore producer generated revenue of $US16.966 billion in full year 2026, up 9 per cent on the prior corresponding period.”

He added:

Statutory net profit after tax of $US2.860 billion was down 15 per cent, which included a $US525 million non-cash impairment charge relating to the Iron Bridge project and a $US73 million compensation claim expense.

Summarising his sell recommendation on Fortescue shares, Baker concluded:

The final, fully franked dividend of 46 cents a share was down from 60 cents a year ago. Capital expenditure and investment guidance in full year 2027 is forecast to increase on full year 2026.

The outlook for the iron ore price isn’t as appealing as other commodities. The share price has fallen from $22.99 on May 14 to trade at $17.22 on September 10.

Which brings us to…

Should I sell Boss Energy shares?

Along with his bearish take on Fortescue shares, Baker also issued a sell recommendation on Boss Energy shares.

“Boss is a multi-mine uranium producer,” he said. “It owns the Honeymoon project in South Australia and has a 30 per cent stake in the Alta Mesa project in South Texas.”

As for that sell recommendation, Baker said:

The Honeymoon project has presented challenges, with the company cutting production guidance in response to bad weather in the third quarter of 2026. A resource downgrade has since followed.

The company posted a net profit after tax of $2.544 million in fiscal year 2026, up from a loss of $34.168 million in the prior year. The shares have fallen from $4.62 on June 23, 2025 to trade at $1.53 on September 10, 2026. Other stocks appeal more at this stage of the cycle.

The post Sell alert! Why this expert is calling time on Boss Energy and Fortescue shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• $10,00 invested in Rio Tinto and Fortescue shares 3 years ago is now worth…

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

There are a number of ways that Australians can invest in ASX shares for passive income. We can invest in stocks in our names, through a company, a trust, superannuation and so on.

Investing for passive income through superannuation makes sense to me for various reasons. I believe the low tax rate is a key benefit.

Remember that the net income we can use for spending is what we receive from our investments after tax. A full-time working Australian may lose a third (or more) of the received passive income to tax – it depends on what tax bracket they’re in.

Due to the above, Australians can benefit from superannuation because of the lower tax rate.

Super has a lower tax rate in the accumulation phase compared to normal individual tax rates for a full-time earner. In retirement, the income tax rate could be as low as 0%.

Each Australian’s household tax position is different, so we’ll just look at targeting a certain passive income level, without talking about tax for the rest of the article.

How much is needed in superannuation for $6,500 of monthly passive income?

Receiving $6,500 per month in dividends translates into $78,000 annually. I’d bet most Australians would love to receive that level of dividends each year without having to do any further work for the money.

One of the main questions Aussies need to think about is what sort of investments they want to own and what dividend yield comes with that investment.

For example, a portfolio with a dividend yield of 6.5% can be half the size of a portfolio with a dividend yield of 3.25% when targeting $78,000 of yearly income (or any other income goal).

This means that for a 6.5% yield, the portfolio would need to be $1.2 million, whereas it would need to be $2.4 million at a 3.25% yield.

Using a middle value, a 5% dividend yield would require a $1.56 million portfolio to generate an average of $6,500 in monthly passive income.

The final dividend yield I’ll note is 4%. It would take a $1.95 million portfolio value to unlock $78,000 of annual dividends.

The types of ASX dividend shares I’d look at

There are plenty of ASX dividend shares that superannuation investors can use to invest in superannuation, in their personal name, or through other structures.

Some of the stocks with lower yields that I’d look at are Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL), L1 Long Short Fund Ltd (ASX: LSF), Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV), Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and APA Group (ASX: APA).

Turning to investment options with higher dividend yields, I’d consider names like Future Generation Australia Ltd (ASX: FGX), Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), WCM Quality Global Growth Fund (ASX: WCMQ), Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP), Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF), Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW), Dexus Industria REIT (ASX: DXI), PM Capital Global Opportunities Fund Ltd (ASX: PGF) and Hearts and Minds Investments Ltd (ASX: HM1).

The post How much is needed in superannuation to target a $6,500 monthly passive income? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• By September 2027, Wesfarmers shares could turn $10,000 into…
• Buy, hold, sell: Corporate Travel Management, Wesfarmers, Fortescue shares

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Future Generation Australia, Hearts And Minds Investments, L1 Long Short Fund, Rural Funds Group, Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited, and Wcm Quality Global Growth Fund. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Lovisa, Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited, and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Apa Group, Rural Funds Group, Telstra Group, and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Lovisa and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Australian investors continue to funnel billions of dollars into some of the ASX’s most popular exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with Vanguard ETFs and Betashares dominating many portfolios.

For investors building a portfolio for the long haul, these funds can provide a simple way to gain exposure to hundreds of companies. Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) and BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200) target the local market, while Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) and BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) give investors access to overseas markets.

But which funds have delivered the goods?

VAS: the Australian market workhorse

The top Vanguard ETF offers exposure to the 300 largest companies listed on the ASX, providing investors with a straightforward way to own a slice of corporate Australia.

Its recent performance has been underwhelming, falling around 3% over the past month and 1% over 12 months. But short-term performance isn’t necessarily the main attraction.

VAS provides broad exposure across Australian industries and a relatively attractive income stream. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) are among its largest holdings, each representing more than 10% of the portfolio.

The fund’s dividend yield is around 3.7%, although investors should remember that Australian equities are heavily concentrated in financials and resources.

A200: low-cost Australian exposure

BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200) offers a similar proposition to the Vanguard ETF VAS, tracking the 200 largest Australian companies.

It has also struggled recently, down around 3% over the past month and 1% over 12 months.

Where A200 really stands out is cost. Its management fee is just 0.04%, while funds under management have climbed to around $11 billion.

Like VAS, its largest holdings include CBA and BHP, so investors face a similar concentration risk.

For a low-cost Australian core holding, however, A200 remains difficult to overlook.

VGS: taking the portfolio global

VGS tackles one of the biggest drawbacks of an Australia-only portfolio: concentration.

The Vanguard ETF provides exposure to developed international markets and has returned around 8% over the past year.

The US accounts for a significant portion of the portfolio, with technology heavyweights including Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) among its largest holdings, each representing more than 5% at the time of writing.

That international diversification opens the door to industries and companies that have a much smaller presence on the ASX.

NDQ: the growth bet

If A200 is the steady option, ASX: NDQ is the higher-octane alternative.

NDQ has gained around 11% over one year and an impressive 75% over five years, powered by its exposure to technology and other US growth companies.

Nvidia and Apple are among its biggest holdings, while the fund’s 0.48% management fee is considerably higher than the 0.18% that Vanguard ETF VGS charges.

After such a powerful run, the question for investors is whether they’re buying tomorrow’s growth or yesterday’s winners.

Foolish takeaway

There isn’t one obvious winner. A200 has the cost advantage, VAS offers broad Australian exposure, VGS provides greater diversification, while NDQ has delivered the strongest growth.

For long-term investors, the better choice may depend less on picking a winner and more on combining complementary ETFs.

The post Vanguard ETFs vs. Betashares ETFs: Who’s coming out on top? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• BHP shares keep falling. Is now the time to buy?
• How many BHP shares do I need to buy to earn $100 a week in passive income?
• If I invest $10,000 in BHP shares, how much passive income will I receive in 2027?
• How much superannuation is needed to target $5,500 per month in passive income?
• My top ASX passive income stocks for the next 10 years

Motley Fool contributor Marc Van Dinther has positions in BHP Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Apple, BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple, BHP Group, Nvidia, and Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Shares in Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV) have fallen about 20% since the company reported its full-year result, creating a buying opportunity, according to the team at UBS.

UBS has released a new research note on the company with a bullish share price target, which I’ll get to shortly.

First, let’s have a look at Lovisa’s full-year results.

Profit and revenue heading in the right direction

The jewellery retailer boosted total revenue 17.6% to $938.8 million, while comparable store sales were up 2%.

The company opened 160 new stores during the year, to have 1136 at the end of June.

Net profit came in at $95.6 million, up 10.7%, while the dividend was increased 22.2% to 33 cents per share.

Lovisa Chief Executive Officer John Cheston said of the result:

Lovisa has once again been able to deliver strong global sales and profit growth, with the highlights being continued growth in the Americas and Europe and another exceptional Gross Margin performance. I would like to share my appreciation to the global team for their hard work in delivering these outstanding results and continuing the global momentum of the business.

Lovisa said its ongoing focus on the quality of the store network resulted in 43 underperforming stores being closed and 12 relocations.

The company added:

We will continue to focus on store profitability and where landlords don’t provide a profitable rent we will take action on stores not delivering to required levels of return on investment. With a footprint now in over 50 markets and increased support structures in place we are well positioned to continue our global rollout across both existing and new markets. We continue to focus on opportunities for expanding both our physical and digital store network, with structures in place to drive this growth in existing and new markets and formats, with a long new store runway supporting continued store rollout momentum. Our balance sheet remains strong with available cash and debt facilities supporting continued investment in growth.

Lovisa shares looking cheap

UBS said with the share price having weakened, the risk-reward for the shares “is now attractive and we upgrade our rating from neutral to buy”.

UBS added:

LOV enjoys significant store growth potential assisted by a consistent format across markets while leveraging a low ticket price and socialisation by a predominantly youth consumer base, typically a stronger consumer cohort. Store growth, the key EBIT driver, was strong in FY26 (160 gross, 12 relocations, 43 closures) with this expected to continue in FY27.

UBS has a price target of $28 on Lovisa shares compared to $23.07 at the time of writing.

Lovisa is valued at $2.4 billion.

The post What sort of upside is UBS predicting for Lovisa shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Cameron England has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Lovisa. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Lovisa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Retirement doesn’t have to mean stopping work overnight.

For Australians aged 60 and over, a Transition to Retirement (TTR) strategy could provide a way to cut back hours while using superannuation to help bridge the income gap.

How does a TTR strategy work?

The basic idea is to replace some employment income with payments from your superannuation.

You could reduce your working hours and salary, then draw an income from a TTR pension to make up some of the difference. At the same time, you may be able to salary sacrifice part of your remaining salary into super.

Concessional contributions, including salary-sacrifice contributions, are generally taxed at 15% within super, which can be below your marginal tax rate.

Done carefully, this can create a useful reshuffle of your cash flow: less work, some income from super and continued contributions to your retirement savings.

Here’s what it could look like

Imagine you’re 60 and earn $100,000 a year. You decide to move to a four-day working week, cutting your salary to $80,000. You then draw $20,000 from a TTR pension to help replace the income you’ve given up.

At the same time, you salary sacrifice $15,000 of your wages into superannuation.

The result is a potentially more flexible path towards retirement. You’re working less, drawing some income from super and continuing to put money into your retirement account.

For someone keen to ease into retirement rather than make an abrupt switch, that could be appealing.

But there are catches

TTR isn’t a magic solution, and the rules matter.

Employer Super Guarantee contributions and salary-sacrifice contributions generally count towards your annual concessional contributions cap. Exceeding the cap can result in additional tax.

TTR pensions also have minimum and maximum withdrawal rules, so you can’t simply withdraw whatever amount you want.

Perhaps most importantly, every dollar withdrawn from superannuation is a dollar that is no longer invested in the fund. Drawing too much too early could reduce the amount available to compound for your later retirement years.

Foolish takeaway

A TTR strategy can offer an appealing middle ground between full-time employment and full retirement.

For eligible Australians, combining superannuation withdrawals with salary sacrifice may help reduce working hours, manage taxable income and continue building retirement savings.

However, the most suitable approach depends on your income, super balance, age, contributions and retirement goals. The relevant rules can also be complex, so speaking with a licensed financial adviser or tax professional before making changes may be worthwhile.

For some Australians, though, the concept is compelling: work less, replace some lost income with super and keep building your retirement nest egg.

The post Turning 60? You could be leaving superannuation money on the table appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Marc Van Dinther has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.