Buy Hold Sell: How the pros are setting their portfolios for 2026

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 Adam Dawes from Shaw and Partners - to discuss where investors should be positioning, and where trimming exposure may make sense heading into the new year. Note: This episode was recorded on Wednesday, 17 December 2025. TIME CODES 00:09 - Intro: after the “golden run”, where to position for 2026 (asset classes in focus) 00:44 - Market cycle check: earnings growth, rates and macro backdrop (Australia + global) 01:54 - Australian equities: where the opportunities are, and what drives the ASX in 2026 (banks vs commodities) 04:52 - Global equities: US concentration, rates outlook, AI/defence tailwinds, and how to think about diversification 08:30 - Fixed income & cash: demand for income, rate risk, floating vs fixed, and how investors should position 12:38 - Gold: outlook, drivers (rates, central bank buying, debt concerns), and portfolio role 14:31 - Lightning round: equities benchmarks + rates + gold (ASX, S&P 500, RBA cash rate, gold targets) 18:13 - Outro: rebalance into 2026 + follow the Buy Hold Sell Instagram channel