12 days of Christmas investment learning

Fri 05 December 2025

ASX

Investor Update

A guide to help more experienced investors expand their sharemarket knowledge over the summer holidays.

Key points

This article is designed for people who have been investing in shares or listed funds for at least a year and have intermediate investment knowledge.
The tasks on the list are curated from the ASX website.
The list is broken into a series of short tasks each day. Each day’s combined tasks take an hour to complete, on average.

Are you ready to take the next step in your investment journey, moving from a beginner to a more advanced investor through education? If so, ASX has resources that can help.

ASX offers a range of free online education tools for beginner, intermediate and advanced investors. These tools range from reading materials to podcasts, videos, on-demand webcasts, courses, events and broking research.

This time last year, ASX Investor Update curated a list of educational tools for first-time investors. The response encouraged us to repeat that exercise, this time focusing on investors with intermediate sharemarket knowledge.

Like last year, we’ve given this list a Christmas theme, designing 12 days of learning. Each day has a few short tasks that should take no more than an hour (some can be done well within the hour, while a few more may take a little longer).

You can start and finish the list whenever it suits you best, spending as much or as little time as you have available.

Before we begin, there are a few things to note. The tool and activities featured in this list assume that you have some prior investment knowledge. If you’re new to investing, we suggest reading last year’s list.

Also, the content and activities contained in this list do not provide financial advice, stock or fund recommendations or a structured sharemarket education program. It is a curated collection of information already available on the ASX website, offered in a fun and digestible format.

Finally, the best way to learn about investing is always through experience and lifelong learning. Twelve hours of sharemarket education is just the start and will hopefully wet your apetite to look for more content and information to build your knowledge.

Here are the 12 days of Christmas learning opportunities for intermediate investors.

For easy reference, we’ve numbered each task according to the day, and as a list of all 42 tasks over 12 days (in case you want to return to any). You can refer to the Glossary if you are unsure about any of the terms menioned in this list.

Day 1: scan the ASX-listed investment products universe

The ASX Investment Products Monthly Report is a valuable tool to understand which funds are available and those added each month to ASX.

1.1	Download the latest ASX Investment Products report.
1.2	Review the first table on page 1, ‘ASX Fund Segment’, to get a sense of the number of listed investment products available on ASX and the size of the main fund markets.
1.3	Review the Recent Admissions table on page 1 of the report to learn about new funds on ASX. Choose one new admission and enter its ASX code on the ASX website to learn more about it.
1.4	Scroll down to the blue section on Listed Investment Companies (LICs) and Trusts (LITs) in the report. Choose one LIC, noting its Premium/Discount % NTA.
1.5	Scroll further down to the grey section on Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A-REITs). Choose one A-REIT, noting its distribution yield and total return.

Day 2: access free broking research

The ASX Equity Research Scheme provides information on more than 50 under-covered small-cap ASX-listed companies each year.

2.6	Select Included companies to learn which companies are covered in FY26.
2.7	Subscribe to the weekly email each Friday afternoon to access broker reports through the ASX Equity Research Scheme.
2.8	When you receive your first email, choose one company in the list, read the summary in the broking report and note what the company does.

Day 3: learn about upcoming company listings on ASX

Upcoming floats and listings on the ASX website has details on companies intending to list on the exchange in the next six weeks. It’s a good place to start for investors who want information on the Initial Public Offerings (IPO) market.

3.9	Select one company on the Upcoming floats and listings page.
3.10	Make a note of what the company does, its market capitalisation, how much capital it intends to raise, its offer price and ASX security code.
3.11	Select the link to the company’s website and read about the company in the ‘About Us’ section on its website.
3.12	Download the company’s Prospectus off its website and read the Chairman’s Letter near the front of the document. (This is an optional task as prospectuses are typically large documents to download and may require you to register your details before downloading).

Day 4: build your knowledge of small and mid-cap ASX-listed companies

4.13	Watch on-demand content from the ASX SMIDcaps Conference 2025. Choose one of the 27 companies featured and watch its presentation.
4.14	Review on-demand content from the ASX CEO Connect 2025. Choose one small-cap company on the list and watch its presentation.
4.15	Return to the broking research provided through the ASX Equity Research Scheme (assuming you have subscribed). Choose one small-cap company and write down three potential positives and three potential risks about it.

Day 5: listen to The Ideas Exchange Podcast

After all the hard work on the first four days, it’s time to listen to some ASX podcasts that suit more advanced investors. Or better still, listen to the podcasts as you enjoy the summer sunshine on a walk!

5.16	Listen to Episode 57: ‘Alpha beyond the Magnificent Seven’, which considers the potential for excess returns beyond the market’s largest stocks.
5.17	Listen to Episode 56: ‘High-conviction, long-term value: inside NAOS’ portfolio,’ to understand how a small-cap investor assesses stocks.
5.18	Listen to Episode 53: ‘Beyond buy and hold – A guide to long-short strategies’ for different market conditions.

Day 6: access ASX content on-demand

ASX provides a range of content including podcasts and education series on-demand.

6.19	Select ETF Education. Watch the first video on that page, ‘Introduction to active management’.
6.20	Watch the second video, ‘Investing in global equities actively’.
6.21	Watch the third video, ‘Investing in property securities actively’.
6.22	Watch the fourth video, ‘Investing in high conviction actively’.

Day 7: build your exchange traded funds (ETFs) knowledge – Part 1

After listening to ASX podcasts and videos, it’s time to move on to markets beyond equities, starting with ETFs.

7.23	Read Investing in ETFs and other exchange traded products (ETPs) to understand the main features, benefits and risks of ETFs and ETPs.
7.24	Take the free, online ASX ETFs course. Complete the first four of the eight modules in that course (this will take a little longer than an hour, more if you do the quiz for each module)

Day 8: ETFs – Part 2

8.25	Complete the remaining four ASX ETFs course modules.
8.26	Return to the ASX investment products monthly report to access the green section on ETFs. Choose an ETF that invests in global equities and enter its security code on the ASX website. Review the ETF’s returns and distributions, and its main country, sector and stock allocations.

Day 9: learn about listed investment companies (LICs) and trusts (LITs)

As professionally managed listed investment vehicles, LICs and LITs provide exposure to a range of Australian and overseas assets.

9.27	Read Investing in LICs and LITs to learn about the main features, benefits and risks of investing in them.
9.28	Write a short list of some differences between LICs and ETFs.
9.29	Return to the ASX Investment Products Monthly Report to access the section on LICs. Choose one LIC and note its market capitalisation, dividend yield and premium or discount to NTA (Net Tangible Assets).
9.30	Enter the security code of that LIC on the ASX website. Review the LIC’s share-price chart, dividend history and income in AUD (revenue and profit). What does the LIC invest in? How has its underlying portfolio performed?

Day 10: learn about options trading

After reading up on ETFs and LICs, it’s time to take your investment knowledge up a notch to options.

10.31	Visit the ASX Options knowledge hub to understand the main features, benefits and risks, and the range of educational resources ASX provides.
10.32	Watch the ASX Options masterclass: introduction to options.
10.33	Register for the next ASX TradeFloor Options Trading Game to test your options knowledge in real-time market conditions.

Day 11: understand market sentiment

Gauging market sentiment on Australian shares and interest rates can be a consideration for more active investors and traders.

11.34	Learn about the S&P/ASX 200 VIX Index, Australia’s market-sentiment indicator. Consider ways to interpret the A-AVIX Index.
11.35	View a chart of the S&P/ASX VIX Index over 10 years (select 10 years as the timeframe in the charting tool). Note the main spikes in the A-VIX Index and consider why they might have occurred.
11.36	View the RBA Rate Tracker to learn about market expectations on interest-rate changes. What is the market saying about interest rates today? Where does it see the direction of interest rates heading in Australia in 2026?

Day 12: learn to use ASX analysis tools

12.37	Choose an ASX-listed company from the company directory (for this example, we’ll use BHP Group - ASX:BHP).
12.38	Using the charting tool, review BHP’s share-price chart over 1, 5 and 10 years – and ‘Max’ (the maximum period available).
12.39	Select Comparison at the top of the charting tool and compare BHP’s share price to the S&P/ASX 200 Index over 10 years. Has BHP outperformed or underperformed the ASX 200 over this period?
12.40	Select Indicator at the top of the charting tool, then Trend, then Exponential moving average. What is the Exponential Moving Average, a type of moving average, saying about BHP’s share price trend over time?
12.41	Again, using the indicator tool, select Fundamentals, then Dividend yield. What does that chart say about BHP’s dividend history?
12.42	Repeat this exercise using two other stocks you own or are considering buying. Try building different charts of these stocks by selecting Line at the top right of the Charting Tool, then moving down to different charting techniques.

Conclusion

So, there you have it. Twelve hours of Christmas sharemarket learning, spread across 12 days, for those who have at least a year of investment experience.

The tasks on this list won’t turn any investor into an expert, nor do they guarantee investment success. Investing is a long journey and even the best investors learn new things – and make mistakes – along the way.

We hope you find this list useful and would be delighted if you share this article with friends or family who might also benefit from this information – or perhaps join you on your investment learning journey over the summer holidays.

DISCLAIMER

Information provided is for educational purposes and does not constitute financial product advice. You should obtain independent advice from an Australian financial services licensee before making any financial decisions. Although ASX Limited ABN 98 008 624 691 and its related bodies corporate (“ASX”) has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information as at the date of publication, ASX does not give any warranty or representation as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information. To the extent permitted by law, ASX and its employees, officers and contractors shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising in any way (including by way of negligence) from or in connection with any information provided or omitted or from any one acting or refraining to act in reliance on this information.