Buy Hold Sell: CGT Changes Be Damned, We're Hunting ASX Growth Stocks

Why It Matters

Identifying resilient small‑cap growth stocks provides investors with high‑return opportunities even as tax policy shifts, reinforcing the importance of fundamentals over market hype.

Key Takeaways

• Small‑cap resilience hinges on strong management and balance‑sheet discipline.
• Recurring revenue and operating leverage are non‑negotiable growth criteria.
• Premium platform poised for re‑rating after tax savings and acquisition.
• Nanosonics benefits from US market share and high‑margin consumables.
• Megaport’s Latitude acquisition could make it Australia’s AI beneficiary.

Summary

The episode of Livewire’s Buy, Hold, Sell focused on identifying Australian small‑cap growth stocks that can thrive despite looming capital‑gains‑tax changes. Hosts Chris Conway, Oscar Aberg of Wilson Asset Management and Alex Shevelev of Forager Funds discussed their investment frameworks, emphasizing earnings growth, management quality, balance‑sheet strength and the need for clear catalysts.

Both analysts highlighted recurring revenue and operating leverage as essential metrics. Aberg stressed that family‑run firms with disciplined balance sheets survive bear markets, while Shevelev insisted that sustainable cash flow and prudent capital decisions are non‑negotiable. Their stock picks—Premium, Regis Healthcare, Nanosonics, Megaport, hipages and IPD Group—illustrate these principles in action.

Notable quotes include Aberg’s warning that “when catalysts fade, that’s often a sell signal,” and Shevelev’s observation that “recurring revenue provides a steadier path to growth.” Each company was chosen for specific strengths: Premium’s tax savings and acquisition synergies, Regis’s debt‑free war chest for aged‑care expansion, Nanosonics’ US dominance and high‑margin consumables, Megaport’s AI‑related Latitude acquisition, hipages’ platform ecosystem, and IPD’s data‑center exposure.

The implications are clear: investors seeking outsized returns should look beyond headline‑grabbing mega‑caps to disciplined small‑caps with strong cash generation, defensible market positions and clear growth catalysts. These picks could re‑rate as market sentiment improves, offering potential upside for patient, fundamentals‑driven portfolios.

Original Description

In the wake of the budget and the proposed CGT changes, there has been plenty of spirited debate about the future of growth investing in our great country. And rightly so.

But let's get real. Whatever we might think about the changes, Aussies will still create and invest in great growth businesses. It's in our blood.

No tax change is going to completely crush home-grown innovation - the very innovation which brought us the Coolgardie cooler, the Hills Hoist, the Cochlear implant, and WiFi. Oh, and Tim Tams... mustn't forget the Tim Tams.

Typically, these great growth stories are born from the small-cap end of the market, so in this episode, Livewire's Chris Conway is joined by Oscar Oberg from Wilson Asset Management and Alex Shevelev from Forager Funds Management, who each bring three stocks they believe have big potential.

That’s right, it’s going to be wall-to-wall buys for this episode so strap in, and let's go!

This episode was filmed on Wednesday, 20th May 2026.

Read the summary here: https://bit.ly/4tTOt6v

Timecodes:

00:00 - Intro

00:20 - Signals that a growth stock can be a long-term winner

02:10 - What are the non-negotiable characteristics of a growth stock

03:15 - Praemium (ASX: PPS)

04:50 - Regis Healthcare (ASX: REG)

06:00 - Nanosonics (ASX: NAN)

07:45 - Megaport (ASX: MP1)

08:58 - Hipages (ASX: HPG)

10:35 - IPD Group (ASX: IPG)