First Guardian liquidation continues to eat up recovered funds
First Guardian liquidators want to “temper expectations” over the return of funds to investors as the cost of the liquidation continues to grow with the amount recovered, leaving estimated net cash of $326,000 after expenses.
Diversa applies for $239m First Guardian government bailout
Diversa Trustees has applied to the government for a bailout of First Guardian investors worth approximately $239 million, arguing the losses were a result of fraud and remediation will be in the best financial interest to members.
New AMP CEO says lead generators a ‘real driver of consumer harm’
In one of his first interviews as chief executive of AMP, Blair Vernon tells Professional Planner that lead generators and introducers conducting business with rival platforms to AMP’s North present a “real risk” to consumers beyond the victims of Shield and First Guardian. The comments come as the Albanese government consults on measures to crack down on super-switching lead generators, including a possible new licensing regime.
ASIC steps up finfluencer crackdown as it targets licensees
The corporate watchdog is expanding its surveillance of so-called “finfluencers” to include those that are authorised representatives of AFS licensees, signalling that its interest in the area extends well beyond stamping out only unlicensed and unauthorised operators.
The hundreds of millions of bucks that stop with the Sequoia board
The failures of oversight, compliance and management that placed InterPrac Financial Planning squarely at the centre of one of the biggest advice scandals of the past decade can be traced back to the performance of the board and management of its parent company, Sequoia Financial Group, writes Simon Hoyle.
Opinion
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It’s the conflicts of interest, stupid! The uncomfortable truth about reform
The industry’s longstanding failure to deal with conflicts of interest is the main reason why governments will talk about removing ineffective regulation, but rarely follow through, writes Robert MC Brown.
Super switching paranoia drives misinformation campaign
The Super Members Council representing profit-to-member funds claims younger and lower-balance Australians are being transitioned by advisers to “risky” platforms and SMSFs, while the Financial Services Council has fired back with data suggesting it is mostly older, wealthier consumers being advised to switch their super. Aleks Vickovich writes the truth, as usual, is probably somewhere in between.
Overwhelming majority of shareholders vote for Insignia sale
Shareholders have given the nod to CC Capital’s $3.3 billion acquisition of ASX-listed Insignia Financial, bringing the firm closer to de-listing pending court approval later this week.
Tech must lead productivity agenda for financial advice
The recent Professional Planner Advice Policy Summit reinforced the need to articulate the value of advice and expand consumer access to it by fostering different advice models, leveraging new technologies like AI and automation, and lifting productivity. Advice practitioners who travelled to Canberra for the summit reflected that the whole ecosystem has a role to play.
Managed account growth drags on GDG results: Morningstar
Morningstar says that Generation Development Group’s growth in managed accounts has failed to meet investor expectations and was the cause of a drop in GDG’s share price following the release of March quarter results. The analyst note comes despite Morningstar running competing businesses with GDG, including managed accounts, although it made clear the equity analysis retains a clear separation from other business lines.
Licensee Summit
Researcher Forum
Time to bring law to SMSF ‘wild west’: Hartley
More regulation is needed to address consumer harm arising from SMSFs and the Financial Accountability Regime should apply even to platforms that outsource their super trustee in order to close governance gaps, according to Insignia Financial CEO Scott Hartley.
Lessons from the middle: Leadership, resilience and the courage of conviction
The principles of high-performance leadership – whether in business or sport – remain remarkably consistent and include the ability to maintain clarity, integrity, and conviction under immense pressure. Former Australian test cricketer Usman Khawaja told the Top1000funds.com Fiduciary Investors Symposium that the only time you really lose is when you stop trying.
Reflecting on nearly half a century in financial advice
After an extensive 47-year career, Paul Harding-Davis says that while every decade has seen a significant step change that has felt like an “Armageddon” it has instead only seen the standard of the industry improve. Reflecting on his long career to Professional Planner, he is still evangelical about recruiting young people to advice.
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