Australian Investors Podcast

My guest for this week’s 2 Sense episode on The Australian Investors Podcast is Andrew Page, founder of Strawman - Australia’s #1 small cap investment community. Andrew is a very well known commentator, investor and all round good person. I consider him to be one of the best investors I’ve ever met, and personally consider him in my top three in Australia. So I’m delighted to welcome him back to the show. Today we’ll cover three really interesting topics: small caps in Australia, the failed IPO of Firmus, and something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time - question Andrew’s take on Bitcoin. I know some of you have probably heard the last one, given his presence on various podcasts, but I want to get to the bottom of why one of the best investors I know made a decision to switch focus from a proven (and great) track record in small caps, to a digital store of wealth and currency Episode resources – Sign up with Strawman – 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 – Join Pearler using the code "RASKSWITCH" and get $32 of Pearler Credit – Whatever comes next for your business, power it with Stripe 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 The information in this episode is provided by The Rask Group Pty Ltd and contains general financial product advice only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting, consider whether the information is appropriate for you and consider seeking personal advice from a licensed financial adviser. You can read our Financial Services Guide at www.rask.com.au/fsg. If a financial product is mentioned, consider the relevant PDS and TMD, where applicable, before making any financial decision. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Returns are not guaranteed and capital may be at risk. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 1280930 of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd, AFSL 563 907. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a special recording, taken live from Her Wealth Her Way II in Sydney, and features Scott Phillips, CIO of The Motley Fool, and Jess Leung, Portfolio Manager at Global X, alongside Owen Rask. Questions are thrown live from the room, and include: 1. The trio's best and worst (dumbest) investments. 2. How to get started with investing 3. Scott's Firmus update 4. The most expensive emotion in investing And a few laughs! Thanks for listening. Warning: this podcast contains general financial advice only. It is not specific to you as it does not take into account your needs, goals or objectives. So please do not act on the information until you have spoken to your financial planner. Read the PDS and TMD of any financial product before investing. www.rask.au/fsg is where you'll find The Rask Group Pty Ltd's Financial Services Guide (FSG). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Australian Investors Podcast conversation, Owen Rask speaks with Dean Price of Washington H. Soul Pattinson about Electro Optic Systems (ASX: EOS) and NexGen Energy (ASX: NXG). Dean takes us inside Soul Patts’ relationship with EOS: a small initial equity stake, years spent learning the business, and a cash crunch that called for a different kind of support. They discuss why a loan facility, rather than a heavily dilutive share issue, mattered to the company and its existing shareholders—and what it reveals about investing as a long-term partner. The conversation then turns to NexGen and uranium. Dean explains how Soul Patts developed conviction in energy over time, why nuclear fuel supply became central to its thesis, and how growing electricity demand from data centres has changed the discussion. Owen asks how conviction translates into position sizing when an opportunity is compelling but still carries development risk. Across both stories, the bigger question is how patient capital works in practice. How do you distinguish a temporary financing problem from a broken investment case? When should you use debt, equity or both? And what can an investor with a long horizon see that a short-term trader might miss? Listen for a rare look at the research, financing decisions and portfolio thinking behind two contrasting long-term investments. 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 – Join Pearler using the code "RASKSWITCH" and get $32 of Pearler Credit – Whatever comes next for your business, power it with Stripe 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 The information in this episode is provided by The Rask Group Pty Ltd and contains general financial product advice only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting, consider whether the information is appropriate for you and consider seeking personal advice from a licensed financial adviser. You can read our Financial Services Guide at www.rask.com.au/fsg. If a financial product is mentioned, consider the relevant PDS and TMD, where applicable, before making any financial decision. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Returns are not guaranteed and capital may be at risk. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 1280930 of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd, AFSL 563 907. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Building wealth is not just about finding the next winning share or ETF. The bigger driver of long-term returns is how your entire portfolio is constructed—and whether every holding has a clear job. In this episode of the Australian Investors Podcast, Owen Rask and James Phelan explain how strategic asset allocation connects your goals, time horizon and appetite for risk with a practical mix of shares, bonds, cash, property and alternatives. They unpack why smart investors still end up with overlapping ETFs, concentrated positions and “collector’s portfolios” filled with investments they no longer understand. You’ll learn the difference between risk tolerance and risk capacity, why more holdings do not automatically mean better diversification, and how tax consequences should influence—but not control—your decisions. Owen and James also discuss how to clean up an existing portfolio without creating unnecessary capital gains, when an unleveraged investment property may become inefficient, and what everyday investors can borrow from super funds and institutional portfolios. The episode finishes with five practical rules: define the purpose first, set your strategic asset allocation, keep the structure simple, do not let tax trap you in excessive concentration, and create guardrails before volatility arrives. If your investments have grown into a patchwork of ETFs, shares, property and private assets, this conversation will help you step back, simplify and build a portfolio designed around the life you actually want. 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 – Join Pearler using the code "RASKSWITCH" and get $32 of Pearler Credit – Whatever comes next for your business, power it with Stripe 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 The information in this episode is provided by The Rask Group Pty Ltd and contains general financial product advice only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting, consider whether the information is appropriate for you and consider seeking personal advice from a licensed financial adviser. You can read our Financial Services Guide at www.rask.com.au/fsg. If a financial product is mentioned, consider the relevant PDS and TMD, where applicable, before making any financial decision. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Returns are not guaranteed and capital may be at risk. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 1280930 of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd, AFSL 563 907. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if some of the biggest opportunities in artificial intelligence sit beyond the obvious mega-cap technology names? In this episode of the Australian Investors Podcast, Owen Rask speaks with Arelis Agosto, Director of Research & Strategy at Global X, about thematic investing and the structural megatrends reshaping markets over the next 10 to 15 years. Arelis explains why the AI boom differs from the dot-com bubble, including the revenue growth already emerging across the ecosystem. They trace the expected $6.7 trillion AI infrastructure buildout through data centres, semiconductors, networking, cooling and energy, before exploring the supply constraints that could make copper, uranium and rare earths increasingly important. The conversation then moves to the application layer. Arelis outlines how AI could transform drug discovery, healthcare, cybersecurity, cloud computing, robotics, humanoids and autonomous vehicles. She also explains why rising electricity demand and grid investment may prove essential: without the power and infrastructure, the most exciting AI applications cannot become reality. Finally, Owen and Arelis discuss what thematic investing means for portfolio construction. With the top 10 companies representing about 40% of the S&P 500, many investors already have substantial exposure to dominant themes through broad-market funds. The challenge is identifying which complementary opportunities are underrepresented, while avoiding unnecessary concentration. This episode offers a practical framework for looking past the headlines, understanding where AI spending flows and investing through long-term change while staying comfortable with uncertainty. 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 – Join Pearler using the code "RASKSWITCH" and get $32 of Pearler Credit – Whatever comes next for your business, power it with Stripe 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 The information in this episode is provided by The Rask Group Pty Ltd and contains general financial product advice only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting, consider whether the information is appropriate for you and consider seeking personal advice from a licensed financial adviser. You can read our Financial Services Guide at www.rask.com.au/fsg. If a financial product is mentioned, consider the relevant PDS and TMD, where applicable, before making any financial decision. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Returns are not guaranteed and capital may be at risk. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 1280930 of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd, AFSL 563 907. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Addis is the Founder of IntelligentInvestor, a brilliant writer, thinker and entrepreneur. John Addis's lessons are deep and vast, making this Australian Investors Podcast episode with Owen Rask oh-so special. You'll L-O-V-E this episode if you love value investing, how to live an alternative life with meaning and purpose, the pitfalls of founding a company, Warren Buffett, what makes most great investors great writers, daily rituals to live by, and more. John Addis podcast talking points Aside from enjoying a G&T, what daily, weekly or yearly rituals do you practice and why? If any.   What’s something you believe about investing or business, that few people would agree with you on?  If you could grab a new investor by the shoulders and shake some sense into them, what would you say?  Related: what were the key learnings, failures or successes you experienced and can now reflect on?  Do you think Buffett is as good as everyone thinks? Why, why not?  Why is the learning curve for investing so steep? Behind the scenes at II, do you now spend more of your time teaching people to invest or to rite gud?  Why is it important to be able to write well? Which writers do you look to for their quality? What do they do well that others could leverage?  With the rise of AI, is writing a dying form of communication?  Is AI in a bubble? How would we even know? Isn't this just a simulation?! Will AI make stock pickers redundant? What have been the most surprising trends, one to the upside and one to the downside, over your investing career?  Which Australian company brings you the most frustration?  What’s been the biggest mistake of your investing career?  What's been the best? How do you think about the consumption of news and information? How do you curate your home screen or online habits?  What specific strategies or methods have you learned from the II team? Past or present?  The role that optimism plays in human affairs. Have you read Hans Rosling's Factfulness? If yes, what did you make of it?  What’s the most overrated investing book? Conversely, which one changed your life and why? How do you think about the passive versus active debate? Who should be stock pickers? Who shouldn't bother?  How do you think about teaching kids about money and investing? Do you do anything that others might not?  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 – Join Pearler using the code "RASKSWITCH" and get $32 of Pearler Credit – Whatever comes next for your business, power it with Stripe 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 The information in this episode is provided by The Rask Group Pty Ltd and contains general financial product advice only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting, consider whether the information is appropriate for you and consider seeking personal advice from a licensed financial adviser. You can read our Financial Services Guide at www.rask.com.au/fsg. If a financial product is mentioned, consider the relevant PDS and TMD, where applicable, before making any financial decision. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Returns are not guaranteed and capital may be at risk. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 1280930 of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd, AFSL 563 907. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Australian Investors Podcast, Owen Rask speaks with Jon Stahl from Salesforce about how AI agents are moving beyond answering questions and starting to complete real work inside businesses. Jon explains the difference between a chatbot and an agent, including how agents can reason through multistep tasks, call tools and APIs, update business systems and retain useful context. He shares where the technology is already creating value across customer service, software development, research, order management and commerce. The conversation also tackles the controls businesses need before giving an AI agent meaningful autonomy. Jon compares an agent to the “world’s smartest but least experienced intern” and explains why permissions, clear identities, audit logs, hard-coded guardrails and human escalation remain essential. Owen and Jon then explore what must happen before agents can safely buy products or make payments on our behalf. That includes verified authority, spending limits, tokenised payment credentials, merchant recognition and common standards across the payments ecosystem — challenges that cannot be solved by a smarter language model alone. Finally, Jon separates the hype from the practical opportunity. Fully autonomous shopping is still largely experimental, while brand, trust and storefronts remain important. He also explains why trusted business data can dramatically improve an agent’s usefulness, and how businesses may soon use agents to resolve delayed orders, enrich product catalogues, support sales teams and help employees build their own tools. 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 – Join Pearler using the code "RASKSWITCH" and get $32 of Pearler Credit – Whatever comes next for your business, power it with Stripe 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 episode was sponsored by Stripe. The information in this episode is provided by The Rask Group Pty Ltd and contains general financial product advice only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting, consider whether the information is appropriate for you and consider seeking personal advice from a licensed financial adviser. You can read our Financial Services Guide at www.rask.com.au/fsg. If a financial product is mentioned, consider the relevant PDS and TMD, where applicable, before making any financial decision. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Returns are not guaranteed and capital may be at risk. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 1280930 of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd, AFSL 563 907. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Australian Investors Podcast episode, Owen Rask sits down with Jason Kotchoff, founder of Stocklight, to unpack one of the hardest parts of investing: understanding how news actually moves share prices. From ASX announcements and continuous disclosure to US SEC filings and the EDGAR system, this conversation explains how information reaches the market, why some updates send stocks higher, and why "good" news can still trigger a sell-off. Owen and Jason walk through real examples including DroneShield, Megaport and NextDC, showing how price-sensitive announcements are flagged, how directors' trades can shape investor sentiment, and why context matters more than headlines. They also compare Australia's market structure with the United States, highlighting the difference between the ASX's central role and the SEC's rules-based system across many exchanges. The episode also explores the investor information edge in 2026. Jason explains how tools like Stocklight can help investors track portfolios, filter the announcement firehose and stay tax-aware, while Owen presses the bigger question: can individual investors really keep up when professional firms and AI-powered tools are on the other side of the trade? If you want a clearer framework for interpreting market news, company announcements and portfolio signals, this episode will help you understand what matters, what to ignore and how to think before you act. Episode resources – Stocklight – 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 – Join Pearler using the code "RASKSWITCH" and get $32 of Pearler Credit – Whatever comes next for your business, power it with Stripe 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