ASIC sues Equity Trustees for First Guardian due diligence failures
Equity Trustees has argued it’s a victim of the $1 billion Shield and First Guardian collapse and that the funds fraudulently passed due diligence. But ASIC’s latest court proceedings against the trustee allege it was required to investigate any fraud-related risks.
Budget’s CGT changes will shift adviser approach to client portfolios
The government has confirmed highly anticipated changes to CGT and negative gearing concessions in Tuesday night’s budget. Advisers are already pondering how this will impact the investment strategies for their clients.
HUB24 moves ahead with acquiring trustee service
Platform provider HUB24 has decided to move ahead with acquiring HTFS Nominees, bringing the trustee service in-house as the government considers banning the trustee-for-hire model. The firm was owned by EQT Holdings, which also owns the troubled Equity Trustees which is being sued by ASIC over due diligence failures for onboarding the Shield and First Guardian master funds.
ASIC to commence MIS auditing in FY27
ASIC will begin reviewing the financial reports of managed investment schemes (MISs) as part of the regulator’s FY27 priorities, as scrutiny ramps up on MISs in the aftermath of the $1 billion Shield and First Guardian collapse.
InterPrac delays paying out Shield, First Guardian investors amid AFCA dispute
InterPrac Financial Planning has stalled on paying AFCA determinations as First Guardian investor advocate Melinda Kee has been dragged into the court action between the licensee and complaints authority. But it comes as InterPrac parent company Sequoia Financial Group faces fresh scrutiny over the failed sale of the licensee and not disclosing the departure of former ASIC commissioner Danielle Press from its governance oversight committee.
The unsupervised hire: Getting the best from agentic AI
Every adviser conference is talking about it and every vendor is selling it, and the opportunity for practices to use agentic AI is real, writes Michael Connory. But the questions you ask before you sign matter more than the vendor’s slide deck.
Why CGT changes won’t shift investor behaviour
The current debate about reducing the 50 per cent CGT discount assumes property investors are primarily motivated by tax savings. Financial adviser Sheshan Wickramage writes the assumption overlooks how real-world investment decisions are made, particularly among high-net-worth investors.
Insignia to delist with all hurdles for sale completed
Insignia Financial will delist from the ASX at the end of the month as the Federal Court has given approval for the acquisition of the ASX-listed wealth giant by CC Capital.
People are already using AI for financial advice, so let’s make it safe
Financial advice is now the second most common use of AI, yet most of it remains unlicensed, unregulated, and often wrong. Otivo’s Paul Feeney writes the challenge for our industry is clear: how do we put the right guardrails in place?
Paying managers more doesn’t lead to better performance: Morningstar
Cheaper, lower-cost funds are outperforming their higher-priced peers, showing the higher fees aren’t generating higher returns, according to research from Morningstar which measured Australian and global large cap, and fixed income asset classes.
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Shield, First Guardian collapse could drive YFYS changes
The $1 billion collapse of Shield and First Guardian could result in more externally managed products being included in the Your Future Your Super performance test, after Treasury released a consultation paper proposing sweeping changes to the framework.
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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