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Here’s what you need to know today

• Qantas suffered a cyber attack on a system that holds the customer records of 6 million customers. Hackers attacked a third-party platform used by Qantas’ airline contact centre, which reportedly holds customer names, contact details, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers. Qantas shares were down 2% on the day. (ABC News)
  
  

• Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ was passed by the US Senate, with Vice President JD Vance casting the deciding vote to break a 50-50 deadlock. The bill, that is forecast to add $3.3 trillion to US government debt over 10 years, must now pass the House before it goes to Trump for signing. (CNN)
  
  

• There was one key measure the Senate removed from the bill. In a 99-1 vote, the Senate removed a rule that would stop American states regulating Artificial Intelligence. (Quartz)
  
  

• Apple continues to lag in the AI race amongst Big Tech. The latest report is that Apple is considering ditching its own in-house AI efforts and instead may pivot to using either OpenAI or Anthropic to power an upcoming update to Siri. (Quartz)
  
  

• While Apple lags, Microsoft is powering ahead. It has just released its new AI-powered doctor, called MAI-DxO, that the company claims correctly solved up to 85% of case studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine. According to Microsoft’s internal research, that is more than 4-times the success rate of experienced human doctors. (Wired)
  
  

• Amazon has just celebrated a milestone: 1 million robots operating in its warehouses. Across the world, the e-commerce giant operates more than 300 warehouses and it recently added its one millionth robot in Japan. The company is also having success integrating these robots with AI. For example, its technology DeepFleet coordinates robot traffic and apparently has reduced robot travel time by 10%. (Quartz)
  
  

• A day after President Trump published a hand-written note to Fed Chair Jerome Powell demanding interest rates cuts, Powell has fired back. He said the central bank would have already cut interest rates if it weren’t for Trump’s tariffs. (NBC News)
  
  

• British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was able to advance his signature welfare reform legislation, despite 120 MPs from his Labour Party voicing objections to the cuts to social services. (BBC)
  
  

• Switzerland, traditionally a tax haven, will hold a referendum on a 50% inheritence tax on assets above 50 million Swiss francs (US$63 million). While the government opposes it, enough citizens have signed the petition to get it on the ballot on 30 November. (Bloomberg)

What the…?

As our modes of communication change, so does our language. Emojis are on the rise, and it seems, semicolons are in decline. A recent survey in the UK found over the past two decades, semicolon use has fallen almost 50%.

“In 1781, British literature featured a semicolon roughly every 90 words; by 2000, it had fallen to one every 205 words. Today, there’s just one semicolon for every 390 words.” (Babbel)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

The role of fixed income in a portfolio

Community Question: How should investors assess the role of fixed income in their portfolios given the recent interest rate environment?

We put this question to Peter Nevill, financial adviser at Viola Private Wealth

The use of fixed income in portfolios needs to be guided by your circumstances, stage of life, what you’re trying to achieve, tolerance for volatility etc. Obviously, its role is to produce income and play a bit of defense for the portfolio, whether the intent is to spend the income (ie funding your lifestyle in retirement), or redeploy it to where you see value at a point in time. As interest rates are cut, some marginal capital growth can be expected (as the cashflows are comparatively more attractive, and thus in greater demand), but be mindful though of how far rates will actually get cut - it is very unlikely we will see rates near zero again, so the rate cutting cycle will likely be fairly shallow and will see a structurally higher cash rate than what we enjoyed in recent years.

Bonds are the most famous fixed income product - a defensive asset class that can act like insurance in the event of an equity market selloff, but should be expected to be a drag on returns over the long term. It comes down to your goals and circumstances; your ability to withstand losses, comfort with portfolio volatility, and the return you need to be able to generate to meet your goals. That is the lens through which to consider whether bonds are right for you and have a role to play in your portfolio. If you are wanting to generate income for a portfolio, don’t be shy to look past bonds and consider also utilising other higher-yielding options with differing drivers of returns, such as commercial real estate debt and private lending. Managers with long track records in this space with strong assessment frameworks, experience dealing with borrowers, and conservative LVRs can generate a really favourable return for the risk you take on. Portfolio diversity is every investor’s friend – lean into it.

Interested in speaking to Peter and the team at Viola Private Wealth? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll put you in touch.

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