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.