Latest / What the Flux / Xero apologises to accountants | Apple releases its most expensive iPhone | Firmus's deal with the Devil | ETF insights with BlackRock

Transcript

Xero apologises to accountants | Apple releases its most expensive iPhone | Firmus's deal with the Devil | ETF insights with BlackRock · What the Flux

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: This is What The Flux.
• 0:06
  Speaker 3: I'm Brett.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: And I'm Justin. And it's Friday, the 11th of September.
• 0:09
  Speaker 4: Jazzy Boy, we keep hearing about AI replacing jobs, but
• 0:12
  Speaker 4: new research actually shows it may be the opposite.
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: Get this one.
• 0:16
  Speaker 4: Entry-level jobs for electronics engineers, finance managers, and marketing professionals
• 0:20
  Speaker 4: are increasing due to AI. That's according to new analysis
• 0:24
  Speaker 4: of Australian job ads from 2016 to 2025.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: And it's apparently down to.
• 0:28
  Speaker 4: Junior workers using AI to boost productivity rather than replace
• 0:32
  Speaker 4: their roles altogether.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: It'll be interesting to see what that's like in a
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: couple of years' time. Flux Fam, it's Friday, which means
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: we are dropping quick sticks today where you can win
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: $ 50 if you're the first person to answer three business
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: or finance questions correctly in the Flux app. So if
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: you want to win the $ 50 to kick off the
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: weekend on a high, make sure you download the Flux app,
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: turn your notifications on, and be the first to answer
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: the questions correctly.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: Three massive stories today, Jazzy Boy.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Let's do it.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: For our first.
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: Xero has apologized to accountants after it paid a small
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: business influencer to promote Xero and replace accountants altogether with AI.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Xero might need to reconcile this relationship, so tell me more.
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: So Xero is the ASX-listed accounting software giant used by
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: small businesses and their accountants and bookkeepers around the world.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: And B-Man, while it's incorporated in New Zealand, it's been
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: listed on the ASX since 2012. Which is the way
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: over the past 12 months, Xero share price has plummeted
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: more than 57% after fears that AI could replace its software.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: And now, Xero's found itself in a bit of a pickle.
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: Yep, last week, a UK influencer posted a sponsored Xero
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: ad to her followers. She claimed she connected Xero to
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: Anthropics Claude and built a management account spreadsheet all by herself.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: The kind of spreadsheet she used to pay an accountant for.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: And Xero paid for this ad? Uh-huh, yep. The accountants were,
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: how do you say, not thrilled. No, the post got
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: pulled and Xero's UK boss, publicly apologize.
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: Nothing like thanking your biggest referral partners by funding an
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: ad explaining how you might not need them anymore.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so what is the key learning here?
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: Selling to your customer's customer can turn your biggest partners
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: into a pretty big enemy.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Or in Xero talk, don't accidentally turn your biggest asset
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: into a liability.
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: Xero's most effective sales channel runs on what's called a
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: B2B2B model.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Xero typically sell to the accountant or bookkeeper, and those
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: professionals on-charge it to the small business that they're advising.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: In fact, Jazzy Boy, Xero has more than 100,000 partners
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: globally acting as channel influencers. So, B-Man, accountants and bookkeepers
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: are effectively Xero's unpaid sales force with calculators in their hands.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: And Jazzy Boy, Xero's own first half of FY26 investor
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: deck admits direct channel customer churn is at higher rates
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: than partner-led ones.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: So customers who join because their accountant told them to
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: actually stick around Xero for longer.
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: So the advisor channel is Xero's best tool for keeping
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: customers in the first place.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: And that's exactly why this influencer ad landed so badly.
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: We are very excited to be partnering with BlackRock to
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: learn more about ETFs. Today, I'm chatting with Melissa Vincent
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: from BlackRock's private wealth team to chat about the rise
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: in popularity of ETFs and what everyday investors should know
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: about getting started. Melissa, so great to have you. We've
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: obviously chatted about ETFs on What The Flux before. Can
• 3:07
  Speaker 5: you start off by breaking down what an ETF actually is?
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks for having me again, first of all. But yeah, absolutely.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: So for those people who don't know an ETF or
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: an exchange traded fund, I like to think of it
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: as a basket of securities or assets. Think basket of stocks, bonds, commodities,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: and various other asset classes all bundled up into a fund.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Kind of, I guess, like a managed fund, which is
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: probably a bit more of a traditional investment. But Unlike
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: a managed fund, they're traded on the exchange, like say
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: a stock. So ETFs have really democratized investing because you
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: or I or anyone listening to this podcast are able
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: to log on to their brokerage account and trade a
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: unit of ETF.
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: I'm sure lots of people have been hearing a lot
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: online or maybe within their friend groups about people investing
• 3:52
  Speaker 5: in ETFs. They've certainly risen in popularity, it seems, this year.
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: The ASX actually added 72 new ETFs, which is the
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: most ever this financial year. As one of the world's
• 4:02
  Speaker 5: biggest ETF providers, how do you see that sort of
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: changing the way people are investing?
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: 41% of current ETF investors actually listed hard to choose
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: in ETF as one of their top five barriers because
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: there is so many. Something that might be a challenge
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: when you are investing is how you put a portfolio
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: together or asset allocation, as we like to call it,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: because there are a lot of ETFs. Like you said,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: there's 72 just launched this year. A lot of ETFs
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: might be quite similar or even potentially the same in
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: their underlying holdings. So you would want to try and
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: minimize that overlap or that correlation. So you're not taking
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: any kind of unintended risks and instead pick ETFs that
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: complement each other. The ASX 200, for example, is typically
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: quite weighted to resources and financials. You might want to
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: complement that with a US-based ETF, which has got a
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: little bit more exposure to safety. We think you're diversifying
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: and it's actually the opposite.
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: Another interesting part of the report is that women are
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: actually twice as likely to not invest at all compared
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: to men. What do you think is sort of driving
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: that gender gap when it comes to investing?
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: There is still a significant wealth gap. gap in Australia
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: between men and women particularly you know between the younger
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: and older generations so I think it's really important that
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: people like us really invest in education and engagement so
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: that we can really help more Australians access long-term wealth creation.
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure.
• 5:32
  Speaker 5: And also when it comes to that wealth gap, it
• 5:34
  Speaker 5: can be really easy to hear about ETFs, say, in
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: the media and just feel very lost and overwhelmed. What
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: do you think is the best place for somebody to
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: start when it comes to ETFs?
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: A good starting point would be ETF provider websites. Again,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: like I said before, there are lots of ETF providers,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: so I would really encourage people to go onto all
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: the providers' websites, have a read. There's so many great insights,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: economic updates, resources about how you can kind of build
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: a portfolio.
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: So start there.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Another tool that comes up is AI. So AI can
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: be a great tool for doing basic research, very popular
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: among younger investors. And the survey showed that investors between
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: 18 and 24, as well as investors between 25 and
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: 34 are using AI tools to start their ETF research.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Me personally, I'm not quite ready to give up all
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: of my investment decisions to AI. So, you know, education
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: like this podcast, a really awesome resource and a really
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: great place to start. I think it's also worth chatting
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: to a financial advisor just to go over your personal
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: goals and really understand your risk tolerance.
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure.
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: It's always good to have a human to speak to
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: as well as just getting the base from AI. Melissa,
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: thank you so much for joining us on What The Flux.
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: It's great to tap into your knowledge and just get
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: your perspective and learn more about getting started when it
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: comes to ETFs. So thank you so much. Thank you
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: so much.
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: For our second story, Apple has just launched its latest
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: iPhone named the iPhone Duo, and it's already Apple's most
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: expensive phone ever.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: Apple has finally folded, literally.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: So tell me more.
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: Well, we know that Apple has been one of the
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: OG tech innovators since the very first Mac and then
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: the iPod.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: And then the iPhone, which changed the game in 2007.
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: But I must say, Jazzy Boy, the last few years,
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: A few iPhones have felt like just tiny little improvements
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: on the previous one.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: But B-Man, Apple's just launched a new iPhone that is
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: actually different.
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: Yep, it's called the iPhone Duo, which is their first
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: ever folding iPhone.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Okay, hit me where it hurts. How much do we
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: need to shell out for this baby?
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: Sit down, jazzy boy. Take a deep breath.
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: The base model, the base, is $ 3, 000. and goes up
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: to nearly 6K for the premium.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: That makes it the most expensive iPhone Apple has ever
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: sold by a huge margin.
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: What about us humble folk just looking for the latest
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: iPhone 18?
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Delayed to early 2027, Apple's clearly betting big on their
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: premium foldable product first.
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: But Samsung first launched the foldable phone seven years ago.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: Apple only getting up to it now.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: So it may not have the first mover advantage, but
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: it does have the fast follower strategy up its sleeve.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Or not so fast follower.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: So what is the key learning here?
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: Being first to market isn't always the winning move.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: Because sometimes it's smarter to watch, wait, eat some popcorn
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: and swoop in later. Jazzy Boy, might I remind you
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: that Samsung has been selling folding phones since 2019. So
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Apple waited seven years to even try... Yep.
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: And that's not laziness on Apple's behalf. They were just sitting,
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: learning and letting Samsung do their thing.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Letting them find every flaw first, like dodgy creases in
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: the fold or rough hinges in the fold, declining batteries.
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: And Apple watched rivals burn that cash, trying to solve
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: those problems.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: And then they pounced.
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: In fact, Jazzy Boy Counterpoint, one of the leading tech
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: market intelligence companies, believes that Apple could ship up to
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: 6 million foldable phones in 2026.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Which would already be about 25% market share of the
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: foldable market.
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: That is the classic fast follower play. Let someone else
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: take the R & D risk and then arrive nice
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: and polished.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Yep, but in Apple's case, it was the classic slow
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: and steady follower play.
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: So, being first proves a market exists, but being best
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: is what actually wins it.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: For our third and final story, Thermos, the Australian AI
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: data center company, has announced a six-year deal to sponsor
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: the Tasmanian Devils AFL team.
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: Nothing screams AI infrastructure like a Tasmanian Devil.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Tell me more. Okay, so Thermos Technologies is an AI
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: infrastructure company that was founded in Tassie back in 2019.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: And what do they do?
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: Well, put simply, they build energy-efficient data centers packed with
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: those GPUs of AI, and then they sell computing power
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: to companies that are training and running AI systems like OpenAI.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: And Firmus has been in a lot of news lately
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: for its rapid growth and the investment it's received from OpenAI. Yep,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: they raised it at a more than $ 10 billion valuation
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: last month and planned to list on the ASX in
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: the next 12 months.
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: And Firmus has been stirring a bit of debate recently
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: over plans to build three data centers across Tassie.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, locals are pretty worried about the noise, the water,
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: the energy usage that's involved in running these big data factories.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: So they may not exactly be very loved in Tassie.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: No, but they've just made a deal with the devil.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Tasmanian devils, that is.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: Firmus will be an official sponsor of the new AFL
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: team for the next six years.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: So Firmus is tying itself to the brand. that comes
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: with the Tasmanian Devils and the community around the club.
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: The exact community whose social license they need in order
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: to operate there.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: So what is the key learning here?
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: A social license to operate is basically the unwritten approval
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: that a company needs from the public to operate as
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: a business.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Pretty much saying that the community is cool with you
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: operating on their turf.
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: Without social licence, companies like Firmus really struggle to get
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: big projects off the ground. Get this, 44% of Australians
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: in a recent survey said they'd oppose a data centre
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: being built in their local area. And when you're making
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: data centres that use lots of water and energy, you
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: need the public on your side. Specifically in Tasmania, where
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: new data centres can be approved or held up by
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: local councils. So Firmus is hoping that the deal... with
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: the devil, will help it win the trust and support
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: of the Tasmanian locals.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Flux Adam, if you want to start the weekend on
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: a high by winning $ 50 today, it's all in our
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: weekly game, Quick Sticks. So download the Flux app, turn
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: your notifications on for your chance to win today.
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening and we'll see you on Wednesday.