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📈 Australia's most expensive house sells over weekend | How fees impact your returns

Here's what you need to know today

A bird’s eye view of Australia’s most expensive house, selling for $150 million in Toorak, Melbourne this weekend

Here’s what you need to know today

  • Australia has seen a record house price over the weekend. Former Toll boss Paul Little and Melbourne University Chancellor Jane Hansen, have sold their house in Toorak, Melbourne for $150 million. The previous Australian record was held jointly by two houses in Point Piper, Sydney that each sold for $130 million. The previous record in Melbourne was $80 million. (AFR)

  • Makers of semaglutide GLP-1 weight-loss drugs Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, have asked the Australian government to list their drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Such a listing would make these drugs cheaper for Australians but would see the government pay billions to subsidise the cost of the drugs. (AFR)

  • The latest data from Australian schools show that one-in-three children are behind where they should be at that stage of learning. In response, the Australian government is in the final stages of negotiations with States and Territories for an additional $16 billion in funding, with all but NSW and Queensland already signed up for the deal. (AFR)

  • Australian pizza giant Domino’s saw shares rise more than 21% on Friday after new CEO Mark van Dyck announced the closure of 205 loss-making stores, of which 172 are in Japan. Globally, the company operates 3,800 stores with roughly 1,000 in Japan. (Capital Brief | AFR)

  • Amazon has reached a milestone, surpassing Walmart in quarterly revenue. Amazon reported $188 billion in quarterly revenue while Walmart is expected to report $180 billion next week. However, Amazon hasn’t reached this milestone through retail. The growth of Amazon Web Services has powered the online retailer past this milestone, with AWS now 17% of total revenue. (CNBC)

  • With estimates that Russia has lost more than 15,000 heavy vehicles since fighting began in Ukraine, reports are that Russian troops have been told to start attacking Ukrainian positions using civilian vehicles. (AFR)

What the…?

Steve Jobs once said that he wished I’d take acid because then maybe I would have had more taste in my design of my products.

That was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates talking to The Independent last week.

For decades Microsoft and Apple have been going head-to-head: Windows v Mac, Internet Explorer v Safari, iPod v Zune, iOS v Windows Phone, iPad v Surface. Microsoft generally have won on cost and with business customers, Apple have won on creativity and innovation and owned the consumer market. So maybe Jobs was on to something. Or maybe there was only one Steve Jobs. (Fortune)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

The impact of fees on your returns

This is an excerpt from our book, Get Started Investing (Amazon)

Warren Buffett is the greatest investor of all time, and we have the chance to invest in his company, Berkshire Hathaway.

When Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 it was a failing textile manufacturer. In the 55 years since, Buffett has produced an incredible investing track record and made all of his investors a lot of money.

In this time, he has achieved over 2 million per cent return.

In practical terms, if you had invested $1,000 with Buffett in 1965, you would now have over $27 million! But if Buffett had charged fees on this money you wouldn’t have $27 million.

  • If he charged a 1% fee, you would have $25 million.

  • If he charged a 2% fee, you would have $9 million.

  • If he charged 2% and then a 20% performance fee (traditional investment fund fees), you would have $6.5 million.

Small differences in fees can make a big difference.

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Want more Equity Mates?

  • Today on Equity Mates Investing podcast, we unpack a fascinating company led by an entrepreneur that Ren has labelled ‘the best founder you’ve never heard of’. Tune in to hear who we’re talking about and why we are so impressed (Apple | Spotify)