Explore every episode of the podcast Navigating the noise – conversations with the Natixis Investment Managers Expert Collective.

Healthcare stocks used to be much loved by investors, but have fallen out of favour in Australia and around the world over the past year. Healthcare was the worst performing sector in the ASX last financial year - in both large and small caps.  However, things seem to be starting to turn. Large cap healthcare stocks, including CSL, Cochlear and Resmed have been bouncing back, and a similar dynamic is playing out in small caps. Could the long-term structural tailwinds of an ageing population and preventative medicine be starting to reassert themselves as short-term headwinds dissipate?

In this podcast, IML small-mid cap portfolio managers, Marc Whittaker and Lucas Goode, talk to Natixis Investment Managers’ Daniel Shelest about the recent performance and longer-term prospects for Australian healthcare stocks. They also cover:

• Key takeaways from the earnings results by Integral Diagnostics’ (IDX) and Australian Clinical Labs
• What is driving the massive wave of takeover activity in Australian small and mid-caps
• Potential catalysts to close the valuation gap between small and large caps

This year’s August reporting season has delivered its fair share of drama: from pressures on major banks, to stark sales slides in retail, the economic reality of rising interest rates and persistent inflation is finally biting. Meanwhile, a wave of private equity takeovers highlights the growing disconnect between fundamental value and volatile market pricing.

In this podcast Natixis Investment Managers’ Daniel Shelest sits down with IML large cap portfolio managers Michael O’Neill and Daniel Moore to dissect the key takeaways from reporting season.   They discuss:

• The mortgage growth freeze: Why major banks are facing the lowest mortgage growth since COVID.
• The retail squeeze: What tumbling sales at JB Hi-Fi and Temple & Webster reveal about the health of the Australian consumer.
• The healthcare rebound: Why CSL and ResMed bounced back sharply
• The takeover surge: How market short-termism and AI fears opened the door for premium bids on Steadfast and Cleanaway.
• Navigating the next leg: Why high-quality, low-debt industry leaders with pricing power are well placed for the economic cycle ahead.

In this podcast IML large cap portfolio managers Daniel Moore and Michael O’Neill talk to Mark Williams from Natixis Investment Managers about:

• How IML’s large cap funds performed to round out the financial year
• The big turnaround in June as resources faltered and industrials surged
• What they have been buying and selling lately
• Their outlook for reporting season and the rest of 2026

A new financial year is upon us and to start things off Portfolio Manager and lead for IML’s small-mid cap team, Marc Whittaker, talks to Mark Williams from Natixis Investment Managers about:

• How IML’s small and mid cap funds performed over financial year 2026 and the June quarter
• The stocks that helped and the stocks that hampered
• What he has been buying and selling during the quarter

Transitioning a tech business to the cloud is known as the ‘Valley of Death’ for good reason. Your up-front costs soar and the payoff in profit can be years away. Little-known cinema-focused tech company Vista Group International (VGL) has been through a tumultuous few years as it made this transition. Many of its shareholders deserted it and its stock price more than halved from March 2025 to March 2026.

However, the transition is now well progressed and VGL is seeing the benefits. It has been winning contracts and the stock has been rising off its March lows. In this podcast Lucas Goode and Max Canfield from our Small Cap Team discuss:

• Why they bought VGL and the customer research that convinced them of its merits
• How cinema has changed since Covid and why the Australian box office is up ~22% this year
• What has driven the recent roller coaster ride in Vista’s share price
• Why Lucas and Max believe VGL is in a strong position for future growth
• Why Australian small caps are at their biggest discount to large caps since the GFC and what might close the share price gap

Lynda Schweitzer, CFA, Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of Loomis Sayles’ Global Fixed Income Team, believes that while investors may be underestimating the long-term implications of the Iran War it could also create regional differences that will offer investment opportunities. In this podcast Lynda talks to Louise Watson about:

• Why investors are ‘quiet quitting’ the US
• Her views on Australian fixed income and the Aussie dollar
• Why investors should consider a greater allocation to global fixed income
• How her team finds mispriced bonds and where they see opportunity right now
• Her outlook for the global economy, fixed income yields, and inflation

The Macquarie Conference has become one of the must-attend events in every Australian fund manager’s diary. In this podcast IML portfolio managers Daniel Moore and Lucas Goode talk to Natixis Investment Managers' Daniel Shelest about what they heard and learned at this year’s conference including:

• Which types of companies are suffering most due to the impact of the Iran War and higher interest rates
• How Australian companies are thinking about AI right now
• The most surprising and interesting sessions at the Conference
• The wave of AI capital expenditure that might be flowing to Australia
• How companies and the Australian economy are travelling

The first quarter of 2026 delivered a sharp lesson in market volatility, as intense disruptions from AI and the Iran conflict, reshaped investment landscapes. Amidst this choppiness, there are opportunities for active investors. Join Carl McMinn and Michael O'Neill, portfolio manager for IML's Equity Income and All Industrials Funds, as they dissect the key market movements of Q1 2026. Discover how IML's large cap funds navigated the turbulence, which sectors proved resilient, and where Michael sees enduring value in quality businesses, robust income streams, and overlooked opportunities.

Volatility can be an active manager’s friend – if you’re prepared of course. In this podcast IML’s small-mid cap portfolio managers, Marc Whittaker and Lucas Goode, talk to Carl McMinn about how things went in the first quarter of 2026 and the quality companies they’ve been able to pick up at cheaper prices.

IML portfolio managers Marc Whittaker and Lucas Goode discuss the AI selloff during reporting season and how the immediate risk to many smaller companies might be overblown. They take a detailed look at Hansen Technologies (ASX: HSN), a software stock which managed to avoid the worst of the selloff, partly through a strong result and also through its CEO effectively communicating how Hansen is, in fact, benefitting from AI disruption. Finally, Marc and Lucas take a look at the incredible ~60% outperformance of small cap resources companies over industrial companies over the last six months and discuss whether this is likely to continue.

An extra dose of uncertainty has been woven into this reporting season, with a wide swathe of stocks, particularly Software as a Service (SaaS) sold off on concerns that AI will disrupt their businesses. In this podcast IML large cap portfolio manager, Daniel Moore, discusses the stocks where he thinks the falls are fair, versus those where he sees value on offer.

Daniel also covers:

• What big Aussie companies are telling him on AI disruption and white-collar redundancies
• Where investors are turning, and why, as they sell off SaaS
• How exposed IML’s large cap portfolios are to technology stocks
• Which resources stocks he likes and what he thinks of gold’s recent run

Recorded on 23 February 2026 DR 77479

According to Sara Cassidy, Head of Portfolio Management for AEW’s North American Business, it is potentially the best entry point for US core real estate in years. Sara says that property valuations have absorbed higher interest rates and declined materially and today valuations are beginning to grow again with total returns expected to be higher.

Listen to the full podcast where Sara talks to Louise Watson about:

• Why US core real estate looks “really attractive” right now
• The opportunity in seniors housing
• The risks and opportunities in data centres
• The role warehouses and industrial play in US core real estate
• How politics and ESG are currently impacting US real estate investing.

This podcast was recorded on Friday, 13 February 2026. DR 77362.

The ASX Small Ordinaries delivered an impressive return of 25% in 2025, comfortably outperforming large caps. Of that 25% return, an amazing 20% came from the materials sector, most of that gold, but what happened in the rest of the market?

In this podcast IML Portfolio Manager Marc Whittaker digs into the performance of Australian small caps last year, as well as giving an update on the performance of IML’s small-mid cap funds and a look ahead to what 2026 might bring.

The Australian share market had another good year in 2025, the third year in a row of greater than 10% returns. But what were the standout stocks and sectors, and where do the opportunities lie in 2026?

In this podcast IML Portfolio Manager Michael O’Neill discusses the main drivers of returns last year, as well as giving an update on the performance of IML’s large cap funds and his thoughts on what 2026 might bring.

In this special podcast IML small-mid cap portfolio managers Marc Whittaker and Lucas Goode reveal their top small cap pick for 2025. This stock is up around 40% so far this year, but Marc and Lucas think it ticks all the boxes for quality and value and is also looking good for 2026.

IML Portfolio managers Michael O’Neill and Daniel Moore discuss what happened in markets in the September quarter as well as the performance of IML’s large cap funds, key stocks in the portfolio including a new addition.

We are in a time of great global change where powerful megatrends are reshaping our society and the global economy.

Jens Peers, CIO of Mirova US and portfolio manager of the Mirova Global Sustainable Equity Strategy, believes that investing in these secular megatrends, or transitions, could be a powerful driver of investment returns over the long term. Those four key transitions being: demographic, technological, environmental and governance.

Listen to the full podcast in which Jens joins Louise Watson to delve into the dynamic landscape of investment opportunities emerging from these global transitions:

• How he is playing the AI theme as its adoption continues apace
• How the tech bubble of the early 2000’s compares with today
• Opportunities, and risks, in the energy transition
• The generational divide in consumer needs and preferences
• The rise of the middle class in emerging markets
• Geopolitical trends, and one policy on which Jens agrees with Trump
• The one long-term theme that isn’t yet in the portfolio which he finds most exciting

IML portfolio manager Lucas Goode talks to Jason Guthrie about the excellent reporting season for many small cap companies. The small cap index was up around 8% at the time of recording, despite extreme volatility.

IML portfolio managers Hugh Giddy and Daniel Moore talk to Gavin Butt about how extreme reactions to relatively run-of-the-mill results have turned this into a very volatile reporting season. In the full podcast they discuss:

• The main takeaways from reporting season
• The key results they think investors should pay attention to
• How IML’s holdings have performed
• And how their future outlook has changed with what they’ve learned in the past month

Portfolio manager Marc Whittaker talks to Jason Guthrie about how IML's small-mid cap funds performed over the quarter and financial year. He also discusses performance of key stocks and a new position for the funds.

Portfolio managers Hugh Giddy and Daniel Moore discuss what happened in markets in the June quarter as well as the performance of IML's large cap funds and key stocks over financial year 2025.

With the ongoing war in Ukraine, continuing conflict in the Middle East, and a reshaping of the global framework underway since Donald Trump came to office, defence stocks have been hot property in the world of investing. While Australian investors don’t have that many options when investing locally, an exception is ship builder Austal (ASX:ASB). 

Austal has been a long-term holding for IML’s small and mid cap funds, which have seen its share price triple since the start of 2024. However IML portfolio manager Lucas Goode thinks there could still be plenty of upside for Austal in years to come. 

That is the perspective of David Rolley, Co-Head of the Global Fixed Income Team at Loomis Sayles who has worked in markets for more than 40 years. David thinks that the current White House: “isn't convinced that the global foreign policy, trade, defence, and financial architecture that we've had for the last 80 years serves their purpose.” This is causing considerable change to the global economy and financial markets while making bond, credit, currency and equity markets riskier places to invest.

Listen to the full podcast where David talks to Louise Watson about:

• How he believes investors should be approaching this great time of uncertainty
• Why the structural changes happening to the global economy are the most important in 80 years
• Why he thinks the US is a riskier place to invest and whether this is accurately priced in
• Whether he believes fixed income will be an effective hedge for equity markets in future
• How he is positioning fixed income portfolios in these times and
• The lessons he has learned over 40 years in markets

Hollie Briggs and the Loomis Sayles Growth Equity Strategies Team are not overly concerned by the current market volatility. In fact, they see it as potentially an exciting opportunity to buy high-quality companies at discounted prices, which are then less risky than they were previously. The Team has been working together since 2006, successfully navigating the Global Financial Crisis and Covid pandemic, which both turned up many more buying opportunities than normal. In this podcast interview Hollie talks to Louise Watson about:

• How the Team views this period of volatility compared to times past
• Why investors need to ‘look through’ the current volatility and focus on fundamentals to benefit from it
• How some measures of diversification can give investors false comfort and the measure which Hollie prefers
• Why they continue to back their portfolio holdings, including 6 of the Magnificent 7
• Why they first bought Amazon in 2006 and continue to hold it today

Medibank is a long-term holding for IML. While it has performed well over the years, its share price has hit new heights this year as investors turned to defensive, domestically focused stocks amid the uncertainty and macro-economic volatility.

IML Portfolio Manager, Marc Whittaker, talks to Jason Guthrie about how IML’s small and mid cap portfolios have navigated the recent market volatility and wraps up performance for the first quarter of 2025. Marc also discusses how exposed the companies in the portfolios are to the US’s new tariff regime.

Louise Watson talks to Chris Wallis, CEO and CIO of Vaughan Nelson, about Trump’s tariffs and recent policy changes and the current market volatility. Chris believes that the current market turmoil is an inevitable part of a global change to trade and capital flows that has been going on since 2021 which he calls: “the great rebalancing”.

After a period of US exceptionalism where everyone had piled into US large cap stocks and mega-cap technology, Chris says capital is now flowing out of an over-invested US and “going home”.

Listen to the full podcast where Chris also discusses:

• How his portfolios are positioned for this volatility
• The countries and geographic areas he is most confident in, including why he thinks Chinese equities are a “dead cat bounce” and investors in ‘ReArm Europe’ should book their profits and move on
• The equity asset class where he has his highest personal allocation
• The big risk he thinks many investors are not fully grasping.

For those who enjoyed Chris Wallis's macro and market commentary, you can hear him regularly on the Vaughan Nelson Investment Management Podcast on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple.  

IML Portfolio Manager Marc Whittaker talks to Jason Guthrie about another volatile reporting season in the small to mid-cap end of the ASX. As always there have been many winners and losers and Marc discusses the trends he is seeing including margin pressures and a reckoning for some of the best performing companies and sectors of recent months.

Marc also outlines the performance of a some of IML’s key holdings including Mayne Pharma (MYX), oOh!Media (ASX:OML), Integral Diagnostics (IDX) and Light & Wonder (ASX:LNW).

IML Portfolio Manager Michael O’Neill discusses how investors have been rotating away from away from momentum-driven stocks with high valuations towards more defensive stocks with strong fundamentals in this reporting season. He also shares his thoughts on the performance of the major banks and iron ore miners as well as some of the key stocks in IML’s portfolios including Brambles (BXB), Charter Hall Retail REIT (CQR), CSL (CSL) and Amcor (AMC).

Integral Diagnostics (ASX:IDX) had a great year in 2024; its share price was up around 50% as its business recovered from the post-Covid doldrums. It has just completed a merger with Capitol Health to make it Australia’s second largest radiology provider and IML portfolio manager Marc Whittaker believes this has it well set up for its next phase of growth.

In this podcast Marc discusses why Integral Diagnostics is one of his highest conviction holdings in IML’s small and mid cap funds.

Nitin Gupta, Managing Partner and Co-CIO of Flexstone, believes that every investor in private assets should have an allocation to the lower middle market as it drives both portfolio diversification and alpha. He says that this lower middle-market focus, along with Flexstone’s relationships and access, due diligence and investment process and strategy all combine to give Flexstone its enviable track record of never losing money on any of its funds, over its nearly 20-year track record.

In this wide-ranging podcast he talks to Louise Watson from Natixis Investment Managers about:

• How he first started in investing and why he chose private markets and Flexstone (3min 12sec)
• Flexstone’s focus on the lower middle market and its investing ‘special sauce’ (7min 2sec)
• The best and worst investments in his career and what he learned from them (10min 30sec)
• The growth of private assets and whether there is a bubble (17min 24sec)
• Why Flexstone invests in everyday, ‘boring’ businesses (19min 48sec)
• How Flexstone adds value to the businesses it invests in (22min 50sec)

2024 was another strong year for share markets and for IML’s small and mid cap funds. In this podcast Simon Conn, Senior Portfolio Manager, discusses how IML’s small and mid cap funds performed during the final quarter of 2024 including the performance of key stocks.

After a strong year for share markets in 2024 things ended with a whimper as the ASX 300 dropped during December. IML Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Research Hugh Giddy discusses how IML’s funds performed during the final quarter of 2024 and looks ahead to what he thinks 2025 might bring.

China is Australia’s largest trading partner, so any significant changes in the Chinese economy can have big impacts on Australia’s economy, share markets and the wellbeing of everyday Australians. In this podcast Jason Guthrie chats to IML Portfolio Manager Daniel Moore after his return from a research trip to China. They discuss:

• How China’s economy is performing, including on-the-ground feedback
• The recent Chinese stimulus and potential future stimulus
• The ramifications of a second Donald Trump US Presidency
• The Chinese property market
• Chinese steel and lithium industries

Brambles is an Australian global success story and a high-conviction holding in IML’s large-cap portfolios. It has had a very successful year and is up around 35% in 2024, but is it in now fully valued, or is there more to come?

In this podcast, IML Equity Analyst Josh Freiman talks Jason Guthrie through his investment thesis for IML’s Stock of the Month, Brambles, and why he forecasts compound annual earnings per share (EPS) growth of more than 10% for the next three years.

Chris Wallis, Vaughan Nelson CEO and CIO thinks that AI is both ‘over-hyped and underappreciated’ and better investment opportunities could lie outside megacap tech, particularly in global small-mid caps. In this in-depth podcast Chris talks to Louise Watson, Head of Country for Natixis Investment Managers Australia about:

• Why he first started investing and why he loves it
• Where he is seeing the best investment opportunities
• His thoughts on the global economy and future prospects
• Why global small-mid caps are misunderstood and why it is an attractive asset class
• What sets Vaughan Nelson apart, including the Vaughan Nelson culture

In this podcast, IML large cap portfolio manager, Daniel Moore, chats to Carl McMinn about a very eventful September quarter. He outlines how the Big 4 Banks and large resources companies drove the ASX 300 over the quarter and affected IML’s large cap performance.

In this podcast, IML small-mid cap portfolio manager, Marc Whittaker, chats to Carl McMinn about a very eventful September quarter, with a special focus on IML’s small-mid cap funds, healthcare and IML’s approach to the resources sector.

The global economy takes its lead from the US and it is an important market for many of Australia’s largest companies. IML Equity Analyst Josh Frieman has just returned from a US research trip where he gained first-hand insights into the US economy, as well as Australian companies operating in the US. He joins Natixis IM Distribution Director Carl McMinn to discuss his findings in our latest podcast.

Natixis Investment Managers’ Global Retirement Index attracts great interest in Australia each year. This year Louise Watson discusses the report’s findings with its author Dave Goodsell. They talk about:

• How Australia’s rankings changed in this year’s index
• Why the biggest risk to a comfortable retirement is ourselves
• Why many Australians still don’t have enough money to retire, despite our world-class superannuation system
• Initiatives for improving retirement savings around the world

Louise Watson talks to Aziz Hamzaogullari, Founder, Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager of the Loomis Sayles Growth Equity Strategy Team, about his team’s private equity approach to investing and the investment philosophy they follow to generate long-term alpha. Louise and Aziz also discuss:

• The early days of Aziz’s investing career and why he decided to join Loomis Sayles
• The Team’s Alpha Thesis – the deeply held beliefs and disciplined process which guide what they do every day
• The Magnificent 7 and long-term prospects for AI
• The Team’s sell discipline and its approach to mistakes
• The importance of company management
• The potential implications of the US election

In the second in a special series of reporting season podcasts, Simon Conn, IML Senior Portfolio Manager in the small-mid cap team chats to Jason Guthrie about his main takeaways from Reporting Season so far, including an update on the small-mid cap sector, as well as the results from four key stocks

• Amotiv (ASX:AOV), formerly GUD
• Ansell (ASX: ANN)
• Ampol (ASX: ALD)
• Hansen Technologies (ASX: HSN)

Recorded on 21 August

In a special series of reporting season podcasts, IML’s portfolio managers give an update on the main themes they are seeing and performance of key stocks. In this podcast IML portfolio managers Hugh Giddy and Daniel Moore discuss:

• The health of the consumer
• The performance of banks and commodity prices
• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and the strength of office versus retail
• Key stocks including:
  • Brambles
  • Telstra
  • The Lottery Corporation
  • Aurizon

Podcast was recorded on 21 August.

In the lead-up to his trip to Australia, Jens Peers, CIO of Mirova US, caught up with Louise Watson to discuss the big themes currently driving returns for Mirova’s global sustainable equity strategy including AI, obesity, renewable energy and global supply chains. In a wide-ranging conversation they also discussed:

• Current market volatility
• AI’s short and long-term investment potential
• Performance of sustainable funds
• Global ESG regulation - which regions are doing it best
• Nuclear energy’s future as a part of Australian and global energy mix
• The ramifications of a 2nd Trump Presidency for sustainable funds

Two Gen Xers, Louise Watson from Natixis Investment Managers and Jacqui Fernley from Mason Stevens discuss Natixis IM’s Generation X report and the financial worries of this generation. Also known as the ‘sandwich generation’, Gen Xers are stuck between two more populous and influential generations and many of them are struggling with the twin problems of caring for ageing parents while still looking after, and financially supporting, their children.

Louise and Jacqui discuss:

• How the financial advisory and investment landscape has changed over the past 20 years
• Investment strategies for people at all stages of their journey to financial freedom
• How Gen Xers may be able to overcome their worries about financing their retirement
• How higher inflation is affecting retirees’ plans
• Their careers and the under-representation of senior women in financial services

Links for further information:

• Natixis Investment Managers Generation X Report
• Mason Stevens Investment Regimes – the investing ‘quadrant’ graph Jacqui refers to in the podcast
• Mason Stevens white paper on investment outsourcing trends among Australian financial advisers

Senior Portfolio Manager Hugh Giddy discusses the performance of IML’s large cap funds for financial year 2024, as well as key stocks and market movements.

Senior Portfolio Manager Simon Conn discusses the performance of IML’s small and mid cap funds for financial year 2024, as well as key stocks and market movements.

Kevin Creeden, CFA from Loomis, Sayles & Company talks to Louise Watson about why bonds are in high demand while also explaining some fundamentals of fixed income investing.

In the podcast they cover:

• Why 2022 was such a terrible year for bonds and why there is such strong appetite for bonds right now
• Why Loomis Sayles is opening up its Global Bond Fund to Australian wholesale investors
• Fundamentals of bond investing including:
  • How they are traded
  • The global aggregate benchmark
  • Fixed vs floating rate bonds
  • Benefits of hedging
  • Duration 
  • How active bond managers seek to beat the index

Read more on the Loomis Sayles Global Bond Fund https://www.im.natixis.com/en-au/funds/loomis-sayles-global-bond-fund

Generation Development Group (ASX:GDG) is a company you may not be familiar with: it's only just in the ASX Top 500 and often flies under the radar of the mainstream financial press.

However, you have probably heard of its main brand GenLife, would definitely know GenLife's CEO Grant Hackett and may have seen it in the media lately as it pursues the final piece of ratings and investment house Lonsec. 

In our latest podcast Lucas Goode, IML Portfolio Manager and Equities Analyst, highlights why GDG is IML's stock of the month, shedding light on: 

• GDG’s unique and differentiated product offerings
• The potential Lonsec acquisition
• Recent share price appreciation and future growth potential

Around the world, many nations are preparing for the largest ever wealth transfer in history. In Australia, it is estimated around $3.5 trillion in assets will be passed on to future generations by 2050.* 

So how will this intergenerational wealth transfer impact the Australian economy and society at large?

Find out in our third and final instalment of  Louise Watson's interview with demographer Simon Kuestenmacher. They discuss:

• How and when wealth will transfer from baby boomers to future generations
• The changing face of retirement
• The impact it will have on the housing market
• The social and ethical considerations of “the bank of mum and dad"

*Australian Government Productivity Commission 2021 report "Wealth transfers and their economic effects"