What Matters Today: MM’s Favourite Three Financials – outside of the banks

The local Financials index looks great at first glance, but it contains the “Big Four” banks, which have been charging ahead since late 2023. When we look under the hood of the diversified financials, it’s been a mixed year for the sector, which was exemplified by the 11% drop by Challenger (CGF) yesterday following Apollo’s $530mn sell-down. In general, traditional fund managers have struggled while insurers and more new-age stocks have rallied. This morning, we’ve looked at three of our top picks as we consider what/where to increase exposure to the space into a period of market weakness.

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Alerts 08/07/2025 09:54

Trade Alert – Active Growth Portfolio

We are making two changes to the Active Growth Portfolio today, trimming an existing position and adding a new stock.

Morning report 08/07/2025 09:38

What Matters Today: Is it time for MM to re-enter the Healthcare Sector?

The ASX200 closed down 0.2% on Monday, largely shrugging off weakness across US futures markets as Trump’s tariff deadline moved ever closer. Over 40% of the main board managed to close higher, with most of the major movers on the day being news-led.

Afternoon report 07/07/2025 16:43

The Match Out: ASX subdued ahead of a big week, with RBA decision & Tariff deadlines

No trade in the US on Friday night (Independence Day), so a quiet session to kick things off locally ahead of some key data points this week. The RBA should cut rates tomorrow which would be their first back-to-back move in 6-years, while we await the tariff deadline in the U.S on Wednesday night.

Morning report 07/07/2025 09:22

Macro Monday: Can this week’s tariff deadline rein in the “unloved” bull market?

Donald Trump’s second presidency has been volatile, and it's still less than six months since his inauguration. When Congress approved Trump’s budget mega bill on Thursday, it was the latest of the milestones for the president as he follows through on his unconventional election promises.

Weekend report 05/07/2025 09:44

Weekend Q&A: The ASX200 closes above 8600 for the first time

The ASX200 advanced another 1% last week, closing above the psychological 8600 level for the first time. The healthcare, real estate, and materials sectors all closed up around 3%, while the financial sector was the weakest over the five days, closing down 0.7%. For the market to extend the recent gains, it will need to shrug off high valuations and lack of earnings growth, although, as we saw last week, the resources stocks can do some of the heavy lifting after experiencing a tough 18 months.

Afternoon report 04/07/2025 17:03

The Match Out: ASX up ~1% for FY26, Resources find some love

A quiet end to a solid week for stocks, chalking up a positive move to kick off FY26. The FY25 trend of buying certainty at any price has taken a (slight) knock, with sectors and stocks representing better value attracting more flows this week.

Morning report 04/07/2025 09:19

ETF Friday: Using ETFs to ride the resources rally

The ASX 200 finished unchanged on Thursday, but on the stock level, it was a very different story, with the materials sector surging over 3% while 8 of the mainboard 11 sectors retreated, including the financials, which fell 1.3%, a very different story to the last 18 months.

Afternoon report 03/07/2025 17:05

The March Out: ASX flat, though plenty of fireworks under the hood

The sector/stock divergence that we’ve been highlighting recently stepped up a notch today as BHP outperformed CBA by more than 7% while there was some big moves in some of the beaten down commodities in particular following positive trends overseas.

Alerts 03/07/2025 10:01

Trade Alerts – Income Portfolio

We are making several changes to the Income Portfolio today

Morning report 03/07/2025 09:37

What Matters Today: Fund managers start to fire as the ASX tests all-time highs

The ASX200 enjoyed a strong session on Wednesday, briefly taking the market back above 8600 before drifting back slightly into the close. The miners led the gains from a points perspective, with the materials sector contributing almost 50% of the day's gain, led by BHP, which delivered 18% of the advance on its own. However, from a sheer performance perspective, the fund managers dominated the winners' enclosure, taking out the top 3 spots - more on these guys later.