AJ Clores is 28 years old. His investment portfolio is worth two million dollars. This includes four properties across Australia and a stock portfolio valued at over half a million. He built this from scratch, starting with a video editing business during the pandemic. Now, he is seriously considering leaving Australia. The reason is tax policy.
Recent changes to capital gains tax rules have shifted his calculus. For Clores, the math no longer works in his favor. “Now that the CGT discount is no longer a thing, I kind of see my portfolio as having taken five steps back,” he told Yahoo Finance. This is not an idle complaint. It is a strategic reassessment that highlights a growing tension between wealth creation and fiscal policy.
His story begins with a common lockdown pivot. In 2020, with his video business thriving, he found himself with about $200,000 in cash. With nowhere to spend it, he took a risk. “I just thought, ‘you know what, let me put it all in stocks’,” Clores said. He invested during a market dip. His timing was fortunate. He more than doubled his money. That seed capital funded his first property purchase in Townsville in 2022 for $515,000.
His strategy became a cycle. He lets his stock portfolio, heavily focused on US companies and ETFs like the iShares Global 100, grow to around $500,000. Then he takes a portion to fund a new property. He claims an average annual return of 15 to 20 percent on his investments. That equates to roughly $75,000 to $100,000 in gains in a normal market year. This engine has powered the acquisition of three more properties in Perth, Darwin, and Melbourne in just four years.
The recent federal budget altered a key incentive. The government changed rules on negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts. For investors like Clores, who rely on property for leveraged growth and long term appreciation, the after tax return profile has changed. The benefit of holding assets for the long term has been diluted. “It definitely has affected my portfolio and future planning strategy,” Clores stated. His response is pragmatic. He will not sell existing assets in a panic. But his future investments will change.
“I may adjust the way I invest going forward,” he explained. “I’ll likely be a little less aggressive with long term investing. I might place more emphasis on shorter term opportunities.” The logic is clear. If a greater share of gains will be taken by tax, he believes he needs a “stronger edge” to achieve his targets. This shift from a buy and hold strategy to a more active, tactical approach is a direct consequence of policy.
It also pushes his gaze overseas. Clores is looking at jurisdictions with more favorable capital gains tax regimes. He names:
- Singapore
- New Zealand
- Switzerland
- Belgium
- United Kingdom
- United States
“When you start hitting a certain net worth, the benefits here start to diminish,” he said. “There are other countries that start to benefit you a little bit better. You just don’t want half of it going to tax.” This is the crux of the issue for high net worth individuals. Mobility becomes a financial tool.
Clores is an outlier, but his demographic is growing. According to the ASX Australian Investor Study 2026, a record 11.5 million Australian adults now hold investments outside of superannuation. Younger investors aged 18 to 29 make up 21 percent of that pool. Like Clores, many favor Exchange Traded Funds. ETF ownership in Australia has more than doubled since 2020, now held by an estimated 2.82 million people. This is a new generation of financially engaged, self directed investors. They are attuned to global opportunities.
His advice to others reflects this individualism. He warns against following financial influencers blindly. “There’s a lot of people out there saying ‘invest in this’. Sometimes these people are a buyer’s agent trying to sell you something for their own gain,” he cautions. His philosophy is simple. “Find a financial system that matches what you want out of it.” For him, that system currently points away from Australian property for future buys. It may soon point away from Australia altogether.
The conversation here is bigger than one investor’s portfolio. It touches on capital mobility, intergenerational wealth building, and policy efficacy. The government’s tax changes aim to address housing affordability and budget pressures. One unintended consequence may be encouraging some of the nation’s most successful young accumulators of capital to take their energy and assets elsewhere. Clores is not making a political statement. He is doing what he has always done. He is running the numbers. For now, the numbers are telling him to look beyond his own shores.
| Year | Investment Type | Value (in dollars) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Cash | 200,000 |
| 2022 | First Property | 515,000 |
| 2023 | Stock Portfolio | 500,000 |
| 2023 | Portfolio Total | 2,000,000 |
