About this episode
In this episode of The Australian Finance Podcast, Owen Rask sits down with Hayden Smith, Co-Founder and CTO of Pearler, to explore how Australians really invest — and where investing, technology and advice are heading next.
From ETFs and core-satellite portfolios to AI, robo-advice and the slow shift away from property-first thinking, this conversation goes deep on what’s working, what’s overrated, and what the “average successful investor” of the future might actually look like.
? What you’ll learn in this episode
?? Australia vs ?? the US: how investors really differ
- How Australian investor preferences compare with the US
- Why ETFs dominate locally — and whether that’s normal or surprising
- Cultural, behavioural and structural differences between markets
?????? Investing behaviours: men, women & long-term outcomes
- Are there meaningful differences between how men and women invest?
- What the data says versus common stereotypes
- Why behaviour matters more than product choice
? Core & Satellite investing — what it actually looks like
- ETFs vs shares: how real portfolios shake out in practice
- Why “core & satellite” is often misunderstood
- When simplicity beats sophistication
? Is property-first thinking fading in Australia?
- Are Australians really moving away from property as the default wealth strategy?
- What’s changing — and what isn’t
- How housing affordability, flexibility and investing access shape behaviour
? What worked that wasn’t obvious
- The things Pearler expected to work — and didn’t
- The unexpected features or behaviours that delivered real results
- Lessons learned from building investing tools at scale
? The successful Australian investor of 2030
- What does an “average but successful” 35-year-old investor look like?
- Habits, mindset and structure — not hype or shortcuts
- Why consistency still wins
? Goals, calculators & investor tension
- Why goals are harder than people think
- The tension between optimisation and behaviour
- Are calculators still useful — or mostly ignored?
? Digital advice, robo-advice & regulation
- How Hayden describes the current crop of “robo-advice”
- What digital advice gets right — and where it falls short
- Whether meaningful progress depends on government and regulatory change
? AI, advice & trust
- Why you can’t (yet) just
