At Forrest Private Wealth, our investment philosophy underpins our financial planning advice, which ensures our client’s wealth benefits from long-term exposure to equity markets. We believe holding a well-diversified portfolio of predominantly dividend-paying businesses over a long-term period is essential in financial planning for wealth accumulation and, ultimately, retirement planning.
By following our retirement planning process, a Forrest Private Wealth financial planner stays true to their investment advice, ignoring the noise and pressures of the market to provide their clients with a stress-free retirement. At Forrest Private Wealth, our financial planners capitalise on an investment philosophy that provides predictable income streams from equity markets, setting clients up for their desired retirement.
Long Term Portfolio
The Long Fund maintained positive momentum through October. Selective growth exposure continues to add resilience, helping the portfolio stay on course through changing conditions.
We remain focused on navigating evolving dynamics, such as inflation trends and interest rate adjustments, while keeping the portfolio aligned with long-term objectives. Recent market swings have reinforced the value of our defensive positioning.
Short Term Portfolio
The Short SMA returned +0.51% in October, continuing its consistent performance in a challenging environment for fixed income markets.
Bond markets were influenced by central bank actions and shifting expectations. The US Federal Reserve cut rates, as widely anticipated, but struck a more hawkish tone noting that a December cut is not guaranteed. This led to a modest rise in US bond yields as markets repriced expectations. In Australia, the RBA held rates steady, with recent inflation data reducing the likelihood of further cuts in the near term. European and UK bonds were broadly stable, while Japanese yields edged higher on hawkish signals.
The Short SMA remains well-positioned with diversified exposure to high-quality fixed income managers. In an environment of mixed signals and ongoing uncertainty, the strategy continues to do what it’s designed for: manage risk and deliver dependable results.
Micro Cap Report
Equity markets held up well in October despite mixed economic signals. Small caps outperformed large caps for a fourth month, supported by reinvestment into growth and improving earnings prospects. Large caps rallied on strong updates from major commodity producers and several company-specific catalysts, while global performance was again driven by U.S. mega-cap tech and AI leaders.
Central banks in the U.S. and Australia maintained a cautious tone, signalling that any easing will depend on inflation progress. Geopolitical tensions— including China’s rare-earth restrictions and renewed U.S. tariff threats—briefly weighed on sentiment, and commodities remained volatile, with gold hitting new highs and energy prices swinging. Meanwhile, increased U.S. nuclear funding and Australia’s expanded critical-minerals partnership with the U.S. highlighted ongoing efforts to strengthen Western supply chains.
Small Caps are being rewarded for strong balance sheets, reinvestment into growth and strong cash generation. This is playing to the strengths of this portfolio and has driven the recent strong performance.
Forrest Private Wealth’s discipline in providing financial planning, retirement planning, and wealth management services to its clients allows our clients to benefit from years of experience providing financial advice through major impacts to equity markets where staying the course has helped them.
Forrest Private Wealth has a dedicated team of financial planners and support staff providing clients with peace of mind in working towards and achieving their life goals.