1 October we become SureStone CapitalSame team, same ABN. Our website and email addresses move to surestone.com.au.
Preparing video
Key Points:
Preference for Macquarie over domestic banks, plus MFG, Challenger and Pinnacle in financials Materials and Megaport framed as core Australian avenues into the global AI build‑out AI leadership seen bifurcating around OpenAI and Anthropic, with semis and memory as key bottlenecks
Cameron Curko from Pitcher Partners outlines why Australian investors may want to rethink exposure to financials and materials, given these sectors dominate the local market. Curko prefers being underweight domestic banks, citing pressures from the housing market, and instead points to Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) as offering multiple earnings drivers beyond traditional banking. Curko also highlights Magellan Financial Group (ASX:MFG), Challenger (ASX:CGF) and Pinnacle Investment Management Group (ASX:PNI) as potential beneficiaries of corporate restructures, higher rates and strong underlying franchises.
In materials, Curko views the sector as one of the few credible ways to play the global AI build‑out from Australia. With limited domestic semiconductor exposure and local tech facing AI disruption risks, Curko favours data centre enabler Megaport (ASX:MP1) and major diversified miners BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) for their copper, aluminium, iron ore and lithium exposure. Curko sees pure‑play lithium names as higher‑volatility options more suited to risk‑seeking investors.
On global AI, Curko notes a widening split between the OpenAI and Anthropic ecosystems, with Microsoft, Alphabet ($MSFT, $GOOGL), TSMC ($TSM), ASML ($ASML) and memory makers central to shifting “bottlenecks”. Curko flags Cerebras as an emerging AI hardware alternative and suggests diversified managed funds as a more balanced route into themes such as AI, defence and space, rather than chasing volatile single IPOs like SpaceX or eventual OpenAI and Anthropic listings.
