Building communities: Rory Costelloe on the inspiration behind his residential land development empire Villawood Properties

From humble beginnings in Bendigo, Rory Costelloe built a residential land development empire around a central theme: “We care”. As the award-winning company he founded, Villawood Properties, further grows its footprint, Costelloe reflects on the hurdles along the way and how the Australian market must adapt to accommodate a surging population.  If you were asked […]

A humanitarian way to invest

Humanitarian and climate disasters are forcing more people to flee their homes, prompting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to rethink how it responds over the longer term. It’s led to the adoption of innovative financing opportunities, pairing social impact with market-based activity. UNHCR delivers lifesaving support in emergencies and safeguards fundamental human […]

Building wealth to last centuries

Mutual Trust brings long-term planning to the next level, developing succession plans for wealthy families that look ahead a hundred years. The ‘three-generation curse’ is a widely held belief across countries and cultures. Family wealth generated by hard-working entrepreneurs is dissipated or squandered by its inheritors – or so the belief goes – rarely surviving […]

Why investors are embracing private equity

Investors are increasingly harnessing private equity investing to boost returns while minimising volatility and downside risk, says Claire Smith of Schroders Capital. The big end of town has embraced private equity investing for a while, with Australia’s $4 trillion local superannuation industry perhaps the most prominent local example. However, sophisticated investors are also increasingly backing […]

It’s virtually impossible for a firm to over-invest in generative AI,James Freeman, Chief Technology Officer, Kyndryl Australia and New Zealand, told the Forbes Australia Business Summit

8 top tech trends you should not ignore, from Kyndryl

Technological advances are revolutionising the way businesses of all types interact with their customers. Chief Technology Officer, Kyndryl Australia and New Zealand, Jim Freeman, recently discussed a handful of the most impactful trends during his appearance at the Forbes Australia Business Summit in Sydney. Intelligent refrigerators, cyber-crime-busting technology, and the mind-blowing power of quantum computing […]

Businesses reinventing workforces with agentic AI

Workplaces are transforming as digital labour, capable of releasing trillions of dollars of trapped value, is deployed at scale. Rowena Westphalen, AI and innovation expert at Salesforce, says the implementation of Agentic AI couldn’t come soon enough as Australian businesses face an urgent productivity problem. The pace of change in the artificial intelligence space is […]

Powerhouse women: balancing self-care and success

Successful women are rewriting the wellness playbook by prioritising self-care, strategic nutrition and holistic health, explains Livia Wang, founder of Wellness Adventures. Life as a modern woman can be exhausting and relentless, regardless of your age and stage of life. Juggling multiple roles every day takes considerable planning and commitment, which means squeezing exercise into […]

A looming healthcare epidemic, and the response of Australian start-up AstonRX

Metabolic testing and fitness firm AstonRX empowers individuals on their lifelong wellness journey, including the fast-living, high-performance executive class. The health and fitness sector is big business, and the global industry is valued at more than US$5.5 trillion.  An Australian company carving out a niche in the space, AstonRX, provides science-led programs for metabolic testing […]

How being “purposely positive” became a superpower for Pinterest

The online platform with a difference helps even some of Australia’s oldest brands adapt and thrive, bucking negative trends and building out a deliberately positive corner of the internet. Some of Australia’s most established retailers are ramping up their social media engagement with customers, and to remarkable effect, says Pinterest’s ANZ managing director Melinda Petrunoff. […]