Australian Financial Review – 4 March 2026 – Australian Financial Review

Wealth preservation: The ultra-wealthy are investing more in long- term value locations like Hong Kong. “[The ultra-wealthy] tend to be attracted by scarcity rather than size.” Rasti Vaibhav Words by Sue Williams Ultra-wealthy Australians have rarely had it so good. Many have seen their assets double in value over the past five years, and are able to take a long-term view to capitalise on counter- cyclical investment. A huge number are now investing in office and industrial buildings, often through syndicates, says Adrian Frinsdorf, partner at wealth advisors William Buck Australia.

“There’s a lot of investment occurring at the moment in South Australia because there’s no stamp duty payable on commercial buildings there,” he says. “People like to diversify into commercial, and that state is doing very well. “You might buy a building for $5 million in South Australia, but if you bought an equivalent in Sydney or Melbourne, it could cost you a lot more, and you’re down 5 per cent on tax even before you start.

There’s a lot of fear and uncertainty around the world at the moment, so Australia is attractive.” It’s a similar case overseas, Frinsdorf says. In the United States, high-net-worth individuals are also spending big on medium-sized manufacturing companies that are benefiting from Trump tax cuts and the falling US dollar. They’re also looking at similar businesses in Europe – which have tended, up until now, to be out of the limelight – but are staying away from software companies.

The only residential properties they’re buying tend to be lifestyle properties, like beach and river houses, where they can spend quality time. Rasti Vaibhav, founder of buyers agency Get RARE Properties, agrees. He says the ultra- wealthy are constantly looking for pedigree lifestyle homes in iconic locations and “tend to be attracted by scarcity rather than size”. “They’re looking for long-term capital value and legacy assets they can use to park their generational wealth,” Vaibhav says. “They’re seeking out security and privacy and the prestige of having land, or a home, at the top end of town.

It’s all about wealth preservation.” That might mean buying homes in Bellevue Hill or Vaucluse in Sydney, or Toorak or Brighton in Melbourne, or on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, he says. Overseas, they’re also looking at property in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and London. Also on the radar is good commercial property back home. It’s a fact that current yields on commercial property are proving very attractive to the ultra-wealthy now, says Andrew Zbik, director and strategic financial advisor at CreationWealth, as are investments in wholesale bond markets via the Australian Bond Exchange.

“A lot of our clients became wealthy as a result of the businesses they owned, or still operate, and they tend to buy their own premises first,” Zbik says. “That’s a no-brainer.

Two of Wall Street’s most influential investors have warned that businesses and governments are unprepared for the employment upheaval that will be wrought by the rapidly increasing sophistication of artificial intelligence. Oaktree Capital Management co- chairman Howard Marks said mass lay- offs at Jack Dorsey’s Block last week, whichincluded650AustralianAfterpay staff, were the ‘‘first canary in the coal mine,’’ for greater disruption to come.

Meanwhile, Jenny Johnson, the president of global investment giant FranklinTempleton, warnedthatback- ing data centres and chip makers wouldbeinsufficienttomakeAustralia an AI winner, as AirTrunk’s Robin Khuda said excessive bureaucracy was causing the country to miss out. Describing AI’s threat to the func- tioningofsocietyaslikea‘‘freighttrain’’ that’s currently off in the distance, Marks said governments should appoint a panel of experts to figure out whether policies like universal basic income payments were viable. Laid-off staff would take at least six monthstofindnew jobs,hesaid,andhe was sceptical about tech industry claims that new jobs would materialise.

‘‘I think that we get a lot from our work, other than just a cheque. We get our structure, a reason to be out of the house in the morning,’’ he said. ‘‘If you did an overlap, looked at the places in the US where people lost jobs to auto- mation and offshoring, you would find a high correlation with the places where they had epidemics of opioid addiction, so I am very worried about this.’’ Johnson said a generation would facejobdisruption, andthatbusinesses werenotpreparingsufficientlytocapit- alise on the positives of the innovation.

5 S4 Fix tax, cut NDIS for long-term prosperity, CEOs tell Chalmers 5Business leaders call on Labor to cut spending and introduce economic reform and pro-growth policies ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● John Kehoe and Angira Bharadwaj Continued S4 Leaders of the country’s two largest companies say the Albanese govern- ment should use its next budget to implement ambitious tax reform and pro-growth policies, while cutting spendingonsocialbenefitstosetupthe nation’s long-term prosperity.

Treasurer JimChalmers ispreparing to hand down a federal budget on May 12 amid sticky inflation, stagnant pro- ductivity, declining real wages and a decade offorecast deficits anddebt that is poised to top $1 trillion within weeks.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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