Buy Hold Sell, by Livewire Markets

Why ex-20 is the prime hunting ground for ASX returns

Of the top 20 largest and most successful US companies from the past quarter century, only three remain constituents today – Walmart, Exxon Mobil and JP Morgan Chase.

Of the top 20 largest and most successful Australian companies from 2000, more than half remain as constituents, with banks and miners dominating.

While our biggest companies have served us well, the lack of innovation and new entrants into the upper echelons leaves the top part of our market looking old hat compared to global peers, lacking diversification and growth potential.

Fortunately, looking outside the top 20 yields a different result. The small and mid-cap space is rich with companies on the cutting edge, disrupting industries and carving out new markets. But there are also greater risks.

So, how are investors to sort the wheat from the chaff? To find out, Livewire’s Vishal Teckchandani is joined by Marcus Burns from Spheria Asset Management and David Allingham from Eley Griffiths Group.

They share what they look for in small and mid-caps (SMID) and, for good measure, they highlight a favourite SMID they believe has staying power. 

This video was recorded on 26 March 2025. 

Buy Hold Sell: 7 ex-20 stocks with strong balance sheets

Hunting for the next breakout small or mid-cap stock isn’t about chasing headlines or hype – it’s about backing gritty, cash-generating companies with rock-solid balance sheets and management teams bold enough to make smart decisions without constantly rattling the tin.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Livewire’s Vishal Teckchandani puts five high-potential ASX ex-20 stocks under the microscope with David Allingham from Eley Griffiths and Marcus Burns from Spheria – spanning homegrown global exporters to local names with serious staying power – to uncover what truly separates the standouts from the rest.

Plus, each fundie reveals their top mid-cap pick – a compelling business flying under the radar that not only ticks all the boxes, but has a clear strategy to keep delivering growth.

This episode was filmed on 26 March 2025. 

Buy Hold Sell: 7 ASX growth strategies with

In investing, every basis point counts. Keeping costs low is one of the simplest ways to boost long-term returns, and some of the best-performing ETFs and LICs charge less than 0.10% in annual fees, proving that strong performance doesn’t always come with a high price tag.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, we’re going bottom-fishing for the cheapest funds on the ASX. Joining us to break down the best rock-bottom-fee strategies are Charlie Viola from Viola Private Wealth and Adam Dawes from Shaw and Partners.

Are these low-cost funds worth the hype? Let’s find out.

Is it time to take Bitcoin seriously?

Should investors start taking Bitcoin seriously, just as we should have taken tech stocks more seriously in the 2010s?

Paul Tudor Jones, the billionaire hedge fund manager who famously called the ’87 crash, made a bold bet on Bitcoin in 2020. Since then, it’s surged over 1,200%. His reasoning? If beating inflation is a race, Bitcoin is the fastest horse.

Yet, many investors remain sceptical. Unlike traditional assets, Bitcoin has no cash flows, no earnings, and no tangible value - making it easy to dismiss. But are we making the same mistake with Bitcoin that sceptics made with Amazon and Apple decades ago?

With institutional adoption accelerating, crypto markets maturing, and Bitcoin hitting record highs (until the recent dip), the case for it as a legitimate asset is stronger than ever. Is it time to move past old biases and rethink its place in a portfolio?

To break it down, we’re joined by Charlie Viola from Viola Private Wealth and Adam Dawes from Shaw and Partners. Watch, read or listen to the podcast below.

Buy Hold Sell: 9 ETFs & LITs to build a winning multi-asset portfolio

A winning portfolio is like a championship team; star players in attack, rock-solid defense, and steady hands at the helm. In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Livewire's Vishal Teckchandani calls on selectors Adam Dawes (Shaw and Partners) and Charlie Viola (Viola Private Wealth) to draft the ultimate lineup of listed investments. With nine ETFs and LICs - five chosen by Vishal plus two wildcards from each expert - they’re hunting for the Ricky Pontings and Emma McKeons of the ASX. Whether you seek growth, resilience, or cash flow, they’ve got you covered. Watch, read, or listen below to find your portfolio’s MVPs.

Buy Hold Sell: 5 stocks with massive growth runways

It's every investor's dream: get in at the right time on a great growth company and ride the wave to untold riches. It might sound like a pipedream, and it is indeed hard to do, but there have been plenty of examples over the past decade. 

Globally, names like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Google spring to mind, whilst locally names like ProMedicus and TechnologyOne fit the bill. 

So, how does one go about hunting these unicorns, and what are the companies right now with massive growth runways ahead of them? We're talking about names with sustainable competitive advantages, good returns on capital, strong balance sheets, and that are disruption-resistant.

To help answer that question, and run the ruler over three prospective growth standouts, Livewire's James Marlay was joined by Vihari Ross from Antipodes and James Tsinidis from Munro Partners. 

For good measure, they also share one company they believe is destined to rise to up the growth stock leaderboard over coming years. 

Note: This episode was recorded on Wednesday, 26 February 2025. 

Buy Hold Sell: The investing megatrends you can’t ignore (and some you should rethink)

The stock market is constantly evolving but, every decade, a few megatrends reshape entire industries - creating huge opportunities for investors who spot them early. 

Today, AI is revolutionising everything from automation to chip design, with the global AI market projected to grow from US$207 billion in 2023 to over US$1.8 trillion by 2030, according to Grand View Research. Meanwhile, the clean energy transition, shifting demographics, and deglobalisation are rewriting economic playbooks.

Getting these megatrends right isn’t just important, it can be the difference between market-beating returns and falling behind. Just look at how Amazon capitalised on e-commerce or how Nvidia surged over 3,000% in the past decade thanks to AI-driven demand.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, we’ll break down the biggest megatrends shaping the future, explore why they matter, and discuss how investors can position themselves to ride the wave. We'll also unpack a couple that could be on the decline. 

To do that, Livewire’s James Marlay was joined by Vihari Ross from Antipodes and James Tsinidis from Munro Partners. For good measure, they each share a stock idea set to benefit from their favourite megatrend. 

Note: This episode was recorded on Wednesday, 26 February 2025.

Buy Hold Sell: 12 key ASX stocks and the important themes from reporting season

Whether you're a fund manager overseeing billions or a Livewire reader investing your hard-earned money, there is no better time than the end of reporting season.

Firstly, because it’s bloody exhausting, and secondly, because it’s the clearest picture you will ever get of the health of corporate Australia and the shape of your own portfolio.

Right now is the moment where there is the least noise, the least speculation, and the least fluff. This moment allows investors to make some intelligent decisions, with the fullest information possible, about which opportunities they want to pursue, and forgo, over the coming six months.

So, what were the key themes from the season? And, more importantly, which stocks crushed it - and which got crushed?

To help answer those questions, Livewire’s James Marlay sat down with James Gerrish from Market Matters and Jun Bei Liu from Tencap for this special February 2025 reporting season wrap-up of Buy Hold Sell.

Note: This episode was recorded on Thursday, 26 February 2025.

 

Buy Hold Sell: 5 global tech leaders (and 2 more you simply can't ignore)

Tech companies have carved out a special place in the zeitgeist. Like Sting and Madonna, they often go by singular names and, in many cases, those names have become verbs.

We don’t search online, we Google. We don’t request a ride, we Uber. Often, when companies reach such a status, there is a coalescence between their use in parlance, our use of their products in everyday life, and a sky-high share price.

The question we, as investors, must seek to ask and answer, however, only concerns the latter. Is the business priced appropriately for the expected future return? That’s not so easy to do when the whole world is in love with a company, and its products are so widely used.

But that’s what fund managers signed up for, and so that’s the question, amongst others, that we’re exploring in this episode of Buy, Hold, Sell, where Livewire’s James Marlay was joined by Vihari Ross from Antipodes, and James Tsinidis from Munro Partners. 

For good measure, Ross and Tsinidis each share a tech stock they think is so compelling you can't ignore it. 

Note: This episode was recorded on Wednesday, 26 February 2025.

Buy Hold Sell: 3 underrated dividend stocks for steady income (and two to skip)

If property investing is all about location, location, location, then equity yield is all about consistency, consistency, consistency. 

Yes, investors want a suitable level of yield but the smart ones are willing to relinquish some of that level for a higher degree of consistency. 

Not convinced? 

Well, Livewire's Carl Capolingua wrote a wire last year titled "The most consistent dividend paying stocks in the ASX top 50". It was read almost 50,000 times, had 170 likes, and was one of the most popular wires of 2024. 

So, with dividend consistency the name of the game, in this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Michael O'Neill from IML and Ben Clark from TMS Private Wealth run the ruler over three stocks that have maintained dividend consistency over an extended period.

They also each highlight a stock where the level or consistency of yield could come under pressure. 

Note: This episode was recorded on Wednesday, 12 February 2025.