Buy Hold Sell, by Livewire Markets

With so much choice on the ASX for building an ETF portfolio, the challenge is in construction. How do you combine ETFs in a way that makes sense for where you are in your investing journey? And how should that mix evolve as your knowledge, confidence and capital grows?

In this episode, Tom Stelzer is joined by Daniel Kelly of Viola Private Wealth and Adam Dawes of Shaw and Partners to build three ETF portfolios from the ground up: one for beginners, one for intermediate investors and one for those ready to step into more advanced territory.

ETFs have become the building blocks of modern portfolios, offering instant diversification, liquidity and low-cost access to everything from global blue chips to niche thematics. But with a veritable supermarket of options now available on the ASX, choosing the right ETF is no easy task.

In this episode, Livewire’s Tom Stelzer is joined by Daniel Kelly of Viola Private Wealth and Adam Dawes of Shaw and Partners to give us their verdicts on some of the ETFs most tipped by Livewire readers for 2026.

We cover ETFs from global quality and cybersecurity, to Australian high yi...

If you’ve ever watched a race, there’s usually someone trailing well behind the pack. The limelight belongs to the winners, of course, but there’s always a mix of second-hand embarrassment and sympathy for the poor sod trying and failing to catch up.

Growth investing can feel much the same. Miss the starting gun, and you may have already missed the early and most powerful part of the rally. 

In this episode, Anna Milne from Wilson Asset Management and Blake Henricks from Firetrail Investments explain how they identify early-stage growth opportunities and more importantly...

To paraphrase Gordon Gecko, growth is good.

But not all growth opportunities are created equal (just ask ASX tech investors right now), and after a year in which some growth stocks soared while others stalled, what's the outlook for growth this year, and how do you take advantage?

To answer those questions and more, we welcomed Anna Milne from Wilson Asset Management and Blake Henricks of Firetrail Investments to cover off all things growth stocks.

They reveal how they're handling the current market rotation, what they actually look for in growth-oriented companies and...

Welcome back to a new year of Buy Hold Sell.

At the end of last year, we asked you, our Livewire readers, to tell us what your most-tipped growth stock will be for 2026. It was our 10th year running the survey, with nearly 5,000 responses, and we crunched the numbers to see which names emerged as clear favourites.

So for our first episode of the year, we asked our guests, Anna Milne from Wilson Asset Management and Blake Henricks of Firetrail Investments, to run the ruler over five of your most popular stocks from the results.

Despite the noise, 2025 has quietly thrown up plenty of opportunities for investors.

Anyone switched on enough to play the Resources rebound, the generational gold trade, the small cap surge or even the CBA rally (before things cooled off) has probably done pretty well for themselves this year. 

While many investors sat on their hands over AI and bubble fears, or licked their wounds following the Liberation Day correction, others took the chance to act and reaped the benefits. 

Fortune favours the bold, or at least those willing to think outside the box. So as...

Markets love a good story. And for most of 2025, it’s been the same story everywhere.

A handful of mega-cap stocks have driven the majority of equity market returns in the US, and a similar pattern has been evident here in Australia, where blue-chip heavyweights have dominated the spotlight.  

In both jurisdictions, hundreds of profitable companies have been ignored, and that’s how overlooked stocks are born. These are not broken businesses, just forgotten ones.

Later in the year, investors started to move down the market-cap spectrum - particularly in Australia, where small-caps have c...

Every year, markets have a habit of humbling consensus. Industries written off as “uninvestable” can quickly turn into the best-performing trades on the board, while last year’s darlings quietly fall out of favour. And 2025 was a textbook example.

Few investors began the year expecting gold, defence, critical minerals or uranium to deliver such standout returns – yet all surged as shifting geopolitics, energy security and supply-chain realities reshaped capital flows. Even more surprising was hydrogen’s sudden resurgence, catapulting the long-maligned sector onto the global leaderboard after years in the wilderness. At the same time, traditionally reliable areas like...

For most investors, the biggest determinant of long-term outcomes isn’t finding the next multi-bagger – it’s avoiding the handful of stocks that permanently destroy capital. 

The data is unambiguous. In his landmark study Do Stocks Outperform Treasury Bills?, Professor Hendrik Bessembinder found that just 4% of listed US stocks accounted for all net wealth creation above Treasury bills since 1926, while the majority failed to outperform cash at all. 

For investors, that means the damage done by owning the wrong stocks can outweigh the benefit of trying to pick the next big winner. In other words, losses are...

In a year as frantic and fluid as 2025, it can be hard to know what is a valuable learning experience and what is just noise.

But it goes without saying that eventful times in markets will always throw up the opportunity for some new lessons and some old lessons best relearned. 

As part of our 2026 Outlook Series, we asked 10 leading fund managers to share the key lesson they learnt in 2025 and how that's informing their approach going into 2026.

From trimming winners too early to working out how to play the big market shifts, t...

Jensen Huang founded Nvidia in 1993. For much of its life, it was a good company, not a great one. A specialist chipmaker, a few near-death moments, and long stretches where the stock went nowhere.

Over the past decade, however, Nvidia has become the poster child for modern growth investing. What looks like an overnight success was, in reality, a 20-year build, powered by reinvestment, innovation, and patience. It is now one of the largest companies on the planet, and a reminder that the best growth stories often take far longer to reveal themselves than markets expect.

Buy Hold Sell has wrapped up for 2025 and will be back in 2025. Keep your eyes out for some bonus episodes dropping in early January. Thanks for listening!

If 2025 showed investors anything, it’s that the best money wasn’t made by sitting still; it was made by catching the right waves.

While broader markets delivered solid returns, the lion's share of profits went to investors willing to back the big themes: uranium, defence stocks, gold miners, Bitcoin, the Nasdaq, and Australian small caps. Get the wave right, and returns arrive fast.

But as any surfer knows, timing matters. Not every wave kept rolling, and some themes lost momentum just as quickly as they emerged.

So as we head into the New...

Looking back at 2023, 2024 and 2025, it’s hard not to think: wasn’t it easy to make money?

As the table below shows, almost everything went up. With around 95% of asset classes delivering positive returns, avoiding losses wasn’t the challenge - owning enough of the winners was.

But periods of easy money don’t last forever. Eventually, the macro backdrop shifts, leadership changes, and returns begin to diverge sharply across assets, as investors saw in years like 2018 and 2022.

With that in mind, we invited two market pros - Michael Wayne from Medallion Financial Group and...

As 2025 winds to a close, it’s only fitting that we take stock of the names that dazzled investors this year, as well as those that landed squarely on the naughty list.

Markets delivered no shortage of surprises, with some companies shooting the lights out while others tested even the most patient shareholders.

On the “nice” list sit Regis Resources (RRL), Codan (CDA), and Charter Hall (CHC) - three stocks that managed to push through volatility and reward investors handsomely along the way.

Meanwhile, the “naughty” list features Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (BEN), WiseTech...

“Crazy.” That’s how Jun Bei Liu of TenCap summed up 2025, a year where big themes surged in waves, sector leadership flipped at lightning speed, and investors had to stay sharp through fresh bursts of volatility.

Alongside Atlas’s Hugh Dive, we’re looking back at the year that was: Which stocks delivered, which ones fell short, and which great ideas slipped away before investors could act?

And the real question: what now? With 2026 around the corner, how should investors set up for success, and which stock calls stand out as the most compelling shots for the year ah...

Well, here we are again, staring down the barrel of the year-end.

It’s a time for some fun and frivolity, but amongst the cheer, it’s also the perfect time to cast a discerning eye over our portfolios and make some hard decisions about which companies get a guernsey into 2026.

Shedding the duds also means hunting for new opportunities and while piling into the top 10 best performers from this year is always tempting, there are probably some equal, if not better, opportunities to be had in the downtrodden.

In what has become a tr...

Investing globally can feel overwhelming, but it also opens the door to powerful structural themes that Australian equities often miss.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Nick Markiewicz from Ellerston Capital and Michael Poulsen from Canopy Investors reveal six global small and mid cap stocks positioned in the slipstream of major shifts including AI driven power demand, digital content monetisation, manufacturing reshoring, rising healthcare procedure volumes and the transformation of Japan’s labour market.

From data centre power solutions to hazardous waste leadership and fast-growing HR technology platforms, the pair outline high conviction ideas th...

US earnings season might be over, but the aftershocks are still rippling through markets. Headline numbers looked strong – S&P 500 EPS growth hit 15%, margins touched 15-year highs – yet beneath that glossy surface lies one of the most divided landscapes in years.

In 2025, the market is being pulled in two directions. On one side sits the AI complex, powered by hyperscaler capex that continues to be revised higher. On the other, almost everything tied to the real economy is slowing. Manufacturing is soft. Housing is sluggish. Consumer strength depends entirely on your postcode and pay grade. And in smal...

Whilst Aussie small caps have been on fire and are outperforming their large-cap peers year to date, it’s not the same story everywhere. In the US, for example, small and mid-caps (SMIDs) are still lagging – such is the dominance of the Magnificent 7. But when everything else is rallying, it can pay to fish where others aren’t.

And here’s the kicker: unlike Australia, where there’s a tiny pool of SMIDs – roughly 250 names that meet the $300 million to $10 billion market-cap cut-off – there are around 8,000 globally. That’s a lot of fish.

But with more choice come...

Small caps have long been the hunting ground for investors seeking outsized growth, but they also demand a sharper eye and stronger conviction.

Whilst smalls have woken from a long slumber in 2025, beneath the headline names a new generation of companies is quietly building momentum - firms with unique market positions, improving fundamentals, or catalysts that could soon propel them into the spotlight.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Livewire's Chris Conway is joined by James Nguyen from Tyndall Asset Management and Shaun Weick from Wilson Asset Management. Together, they shine a light on...

If you've been following the story of small caps for a while, you would know that as early as 2024, some investors were talking about a recovery in small caps given the performance gap relative to their larger peers.

For a good period of time, that promise went unfulfilled. But good things come to those who wait, and in 2025, small caps have staged a genuine comeback - so much so that they’re now outpacing their large-cap peers year to date.

The question now is: can it last? And just as importantly, what could derail the mo...

Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are you're aware of the resurgence in small-cap stocks. The ASX Small Ordinaries is up 19% year-to-date, versus just 7% for the ASX 100.

But it's not just a rotation away from growth-starved large caps that is seeing smalls catch a bid. The recent reporting season showed that many small caps are in rude health, with strong balance sheets and improved earnings backed by margin expansion, built on a bedrock of innovation and competitive advantage.

That's the good news but, of course, not all small caps are created equal. Investors...

Over the past few episodes, we’ve galloped through our Spring Racing Carnival series - from the “stayers” built to go the distance, to the “wet-track wonders” that hold their footing when conditions turn tough. And now, as we thunder down the home straight, it’s time for the Photo Finish.

In this final instalment, we’re doing things a little differently. Rather than our usual stock-by-stock format, we’ve set up a series of head-to-head matchups - five pairs of closely matched companies, each vying for line honours. Our guests will weigh in on which business they’d back, and wh...

Winter might be over, but in markets, the clouds can roll in at any time. And when they do, only the sure-footed survive. With the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in full swing, we’re once again taking inspiration from the track - this time, looking for the “wet-track wonders” of the ASX. 

These are the companies that can handle tougher terrain, those with strong balance sheets, reliable earnings, and management teams that know how to keep moving forward when the ground gets heavy.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Livewire’s Chris Conway is joined by Marc...

Spring has arrived, and with it, the familiar buzz of the racing season in Melbourne - where form, endurance, and timing can make all the difference. It’s not just the horses gearing up for a big run - investors, too, are scanning the field for those rare “stayers” that can go the distance.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, we’re drawing inspiration from the track to talk about the enduring performers of the sharemarket - the companies that keep compounding, year after year, through every twist in the economic cycle. These are the market’s equivalen...

Sometimes, the best opportunities aren’t in the headlines. While the market chases momentum, savvy investors know that real alpha often comes from spotting quality before the crowd does, and knowing when to step aside when things get a little too hot.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, host Anna Dadic is joined by small-cap specialists Matt Griffin from Maple Brown-Abbott and Luke Laretive from Seneca to unpack some of the market’s lesser-known winners and a couple of names they think are best avoided for now.

From the small-cap success stories flying under the radar...

Small caps are in comeback mode, and investors are starting to take notice. After years in the doldrums, this once-unloved corner of the market is showing real signs of life, with the index surging more than 20% year to date. But is this rally built on solid foundations, or is it just another short-term burst of optimism?

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, host Anna Dadic is joined by Matt Griffin from Maple-Brown Abbott and Luke Laretive from Seneca to unpack what’s really driving the small-cap recovery and where the next wave of opportunity might lie.

Fr...

When it comes to small caps, investors tend to fall into two camps: those who see risk and those who see opportunity. With a small-cap comeback underway, the latter camp might just be onto something. While this part of the market can be volatile and under-researched, it’s also fertile ground for stock pickers with a sharp eye and thick skin.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Livewire’s Anna Dadic is joined by Matt Griffin from Maple Brown Abbott and Luke Laretive from Seneca Financial Solutions to uncover where they’re spotting value in today’s small-cap la...

This year's NRL Finals have been dominated by the players with the magic touch showing up when needed.

But which companies are doing the same thing on the ASX? Who are the real MVPs and who are the also-rans? 

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Livewire's Tom Stelzer is joined by Tim Riordan from Blackwattle and Brenton Saunders from Pendal to offer their verdicts on the companies showing strong game management and delivering on the big stage. 

Our guests also bring the ASX innovator they think has a winning strategy right now. 
...

This episode was filmed Wednesday, 24th September 2025.

The siren might have sounded on another AFL season, but when it comes to markets, the game next stops. 

With the ASX trading near record highs and valuations stretching common sense, investors are asking the big question: how do you protect the scoreboard when conditions turn tough?

As the saying goes, attack wins you games, but defence wins you titles. And while growth stocks often grab the spotlight, low-volatility names and reliable portfolio ballast can be just as crucial for staying in the match when momentum s...

Growth stocks by definition are going to run hot from time to time, but as the old saying goes: form is temporary, class is permanent.

In a year that's seen a surprisingly resilient stock market, some names have taken the ball and run with it. But it's where they go next that matters.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Livewire's Tom Stelzer is joined by Tim Riordan from Blackwattle and Brenton Saunders from Pendal to analyse some of the ASX's current star performers and see whether they can maintain that form going forward.

Facebook (now Meta) founder Mark Zuckerberg coined the phrase “move fast and break things” – a catchy motto designed to celebrate speed and experimentation. But as investors know, speed counts for little if a company can’t cross the Rubicon from potential to profitability.

That’s the real test: turning hype into hard dollars. Profitability is the finish line, and plenty of flashy contenders never make it across.

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Livewire’s Chris Conway is joined by Martin Hickson (1851 Capital) and Steve Johnson (Forager) to zero in on a clutch of ASX names eithe...

We all love a compelling growth story, but how do you tell whether you're buying substance or sizzle?

In this episode, we’re diving into one of the most exciting - and sometimes most dangerous - areas of the market: innovation. 

It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot, but how do you tell the difference between a company with a slick marketing pitch and one that’s genuinely building something transformative? 

To unpack this, Livewire's Chris Conway is joined by Steve Johnson from Forager and Martin Hickson from 1851 Capital.

Johnson and...

It's September, and that means football finals - time to separate the contenders from the pretenders, as they say. 

It's no different when hunting for opportunities on the ASX, particularly when it comes to the innovators - those companies pushing boundaries, reshaping industries, and trying to become the market leaders of tomorrow. 

But as every investor knows, backing innovation isn’t as simple as spotting a good idea. For every success story like Pro Medicus or Life360, there are countless others that never quite make the leap, leaving investors nursing losses. 

So how do you...

Reporting season already feels like a lifetime ago, given how fast markets are moving these days, but some results - both good and bad - will have a lasting impact.

A great set of results and positive share price reaction can reset a company's trajectory, both operationally and in the minds of investors.

Suddenly, a middling company with a middling share price can look like a world-beater - though with that comes greater expectations. On the other hand, market darlings can turn into pumpkins almost in an instant, with momentum and share prices derailed in...

Reporting season is always full of surprises, and this one didn’t disappoint. 

Some companies smashed expectations, sending share prices soaring, while others stumbled badly and left investors wondering what went wrong. And then, of course, there were the quiet achievers, delivering solid results without making much noise.

To help us cut through the chaos, Livewire's Anna Dadic is joined by Ben Rundle from Hayborough Investment Partners and Joe McCarthy from Elston Asset Management.

Together, they examine the key themes from the season, including some of the best, worst, and under-the-radar results, and - perh...

While the aggregate numbers suggest this August reporting season hasn’t been as volatile as previous ones—at least when looking at average share price moves on beats and misses—several big-name stocks have experienced outsized reactions.

CSL, Woolworths and James Hardie were punished, while Coles, Brambles, and REA Group fared far better. Such sharp swings among large-cap “reliable” names have made the season feel more unpredictable than usual, particularly since these are the stocks investors typically buy for stability.

They are also companies that dominate headlines and, understandably, get a lot of coverage. However, that also mean...

Despite having a world-class healthcare industry and some equally impressive companies, the ASX healthcare sector has been code blue over the last 12 months and is in dire need of a defibrillator. 

The sector has been the third-worst performer over the period, down around 2%. So, what gives? Well, COVID didn't help, and healthcare companies have never been 'cheap' historically, but it does beg the question - is the sector due for a turnaround?

And, far more importantly, as it concerns Buy Hold Sell, which stocks could lead the charge?

To help answer those questions, Li...

There’s something stirring in the ASX property sector.

With interest rates finally trending lower, the landscape for real estate investment is beginning to shift. Cheaper financing, improving asset valuations, and a potential tailwind for yield-focused investors all mean that property stocks are starting to look a lot more compelling.

While they’ve been out of favour in recent times, could we now be witnessing the early signs of a comeback?

In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, we’re diving into the world of listed property - from retail to residential, industrial to off...