📈 Top performing super funds revealed | Dreamworld owner shares jump after development approval

The Big Picture

• Top performing super fund returns revealed for last year. Australian growth super funds have delivered a fourth consecutive year of returns above 9%, with the average fund returning 9.5% over the past 12 months, driven largely by US tech shares. UniSuper topped the rankings with a 12.3% return for the year, followed by NGS Super and Colonial First State both at 11.5%, and Hostplus at 10.8%. (AFR)
  
  

• Auction clearances rates now at pre-pandemic lows. Australia's auction clearance rate has remained below 50% for a ninth consecutive week, which has not been seen since 2018. Canberra saw the lowest clearance rate at 27.8% followed by Brisbane at 35.9%, Sydney at 47.4%, Perth at 50%, Adelaide at 54.9% and Melbourne at 56.5%. (AFR)
  
  

• US continues Iran strikes as oil tankers attacked in Strait of Hormuz. The US military launched a ninth consecutive night of strikes on Iranian targets as Iran attacked two oil tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Iran warned the waterway "will not be safe for the transit" as long as US strikes continue. (ABC)
  
  

• Federal government to refine rules on AI in government decision-making. The Albanese government has published a new framework committing to better regulate the use of AI in Centrelink and Services Australia, while also revisiting personal data protection laws. The move forms part of a larger movements to address community concerns about AI risks to safety and privacy. (ABC)
  
  

• Australia’s top performing equity fund for FY26 announced. Tectonic Investment Management has been crowned Australia's top equity fund after its Opportunities Fund returned 166.5% in FY26. The outperformance was driven by early investments in Firmus and IREN both purchased in 2021. (AFR)

Companies in the news

• Dreamworld owner shares jump after approval for resort and residential development. The Queensland government has approved a 55-hectare mixed-use development surrounding the theme park Dreamworld. The approval will clear the way for resorts, residential apartments and restaurants alongside the theme park. Dreamworld owner Coast Entertainment finished the day up 15% on the news. (AFR)
  
  

• Chinese AI startup Moonshot to rival OpenAI and Anthropic prepares for IPO. Moonshot is looking to capitalise on the global buzz surrounding its Kimi K3 AI model. The model is said to outperform all rival models except for Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6. The release of Kimi K3 sent the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling nearly 10%, extending its drop from June's record high to 20% as investors questioned whether the hyperscalers would keep spending trillions on AI infrastructure. (Yahoo Finance)
  
  

• KPMG fines partners up to $180,000 over Optus and Telstra scandal. KPMG has sanctioned seven staff and partners for misusing confidential Optus information in a failed bid to win Telstra's external audit contract. Those involved face further penalties from the Chartered Accountants ANZ and ASIC. (AFR)
  
  

• Kalshi and prediction markets emerge as biggest winner from World Cup. Prediction market platform Kalshi added 3 million new users over the course of the FIFA World Cup, with more than $1.2 billion traded on its World Cup winner contracts, a record for a single market on the platform. The tournament has driven a broader surge in prediction market trading volumes as speculators pile in to bet on match outcomes. (CNBC)
  
  

• Twiggy takes stake in tungsten miner sending shares soaring. Fortescue executive chairman Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest has purchased a stake in tungsten miner EQ Resources for $190 million. Forrest described tungsten as "essential to the machines that build homes, hospitals, cities and modern-day energy systems.” Shares in EQ Resources finished the day up 34%. (Capital Brief)

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AI can now find you a lifelong partner

Justin McLeod, the founder of Hinge, has raised $18 million to launch Overtone, an AI dating service backed by Hinge owner Match Group, FirstMark Capital and Pace Capital. Overtone is marketing itself as the opposite of the modern dating app, with no profiles, no algorithmic feeds and no swiping, instead using AI to make introductions grounded in relationship science.

The concept has drawn comparisons to the Black Mirror episode "Hang the DJ", and comes as dating app fatigue grows, with a 2024 Forbes survey finding 78% of users felt burnout despite spending around 51 minutes a day on the apps. (Tech Crunch)

Video Games Generate More than Hollywood and the Music Industry Combined

A lot of people would associate Hollywood as being the centre of the entertainment industry with blockbuster movies generating hundreds of millions of dollars every year. However in our latest Decade Ahead episode on Equity Mates Investing, we see that the gaming industry is the biggest part of the entertainment industry and the gap is widening. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

The global video game industry generated US$310 billion in revenue in 2024. The entire global film and music industry combined generates roughly a third of that. By 2029, gaming revenue is forecast to hit US$414 billion.

The biggest slice of that is not consoles or PCs. But Mobile gaming is the cash cow and accounts for 55% of all gaming revenue, around US$103 billion in 2025 alone. Between 2020 and 2025, console revenue grew 7%. Mobile gaming grew 63% in the same period.

The key driver is that billions of people already have a smartphone. The barrier to entry for mobile gaming is very low, and developers have become extraordinarily good at monetising players through micro-transactions and in-game advertising. 94% of Gen Alpha and 92% of Gen Z play mobile games.

For investors, the pure play options in this space include Tencent, the world's largest gaming company by revenue, Nintendo, Sony, Take-Two Interactive, and locally listed ETFs like the Betashares Video Games and Esports ETF under the ticker GAME, which returned 92% in the 12 months to August 2025.

As Ren pointed out in the episode, if they had bought one of these gaming ETFs when Equity Mates started, it would have been one of their best performing investments.

• On Get Started Investing Jess chats with Cam Gleeson, Senior Investment Strategist from Betashares to answer a question from community member John about whether he should gear all of his ETFs. The pair chat what gearing actually is, how geared ETFs work, and whether they're something beginner investors should consider as part of a long-term portfolio. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)