Too busy to keep up with the latest industry developments? Here are a selection of news items from the past week to keep you in the loop.
1) The chief executive officer of the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA), Mark Rantall, has extended his contract and will stay with the organisation beyond 2013. In an address to FPA members, the chairman of the FPA, Matthew Rowe, says the FPA board is “delighted to announce that Mark Rantall has accepted an extension to his term as CEO of the Financial Planning Association and Mark will lead us on the next stage of our journey”.
Rowe says that under Rantall’s leadership the FPA has “successfully implemented a transformational strategy to move from an industry body with a broad church of members to become the first professional association for individual financial planning practitioners in Australia”.
2) In a similar response to its reaction to codes of conduct, the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) seems to be playing for time in its response to ASIC’s Regulatory Guidance on Conflicted Remuneration.
“This is a very complex piece of guidance and it will take a little time to fully analyse and comprehend the implications,” said AFA chief executive Brad Fox. “However, following our initial read of the guidelines, we still harbour significant concerns about the ability of the financial advice industry to retain appropriate incentive schemes to promote both good advice and adviser productivity.”
Fox said the AFA anticipates that there will need to be significant changes to remuneration structures across the industry.
“We look forward to further consultation with ASIC, to better understand the full implications of the regulatory guide and will continue to support our members and licensee partners to prepare for the commencement of FoFA,” he added.
3) Global equities narrowly trumped Australian equities at a Fidelity Investor Roadshow that was well supported by advisers. Amit Lodha, manager of the Fidelity Global Equities Fund, and Kate Howitt, manager of the Fidelity Australian Opportunities Fund, went head to head on the major investment themes of the future, with the managers competing for audience votes.
Howitt was able to peg back Lodha’s early lead on whether global or Australian equities is better placed over the next 12 months but the international manager won the day overall by garnering more votes across three of the five themes.
4) A recent report in UK newspaper The Telegraph quoted a survey by vouchercodes.co.uk, which purported to conclude that “debt” and “poor financial planning” were among “the top turn-offs for those choosing a potential partner”.
These rated above “physical attractiveness” (which perhaps explains why successful internet entrepreneurs can find partners) and “bad personality” as reasons for relationships failing to launch.
Putting to one side for a moment the bona fides of this kind of survey, the 1900 single British people who responded sent a fairly clear message: when it comes to establishing a meaningful relationship, a reasonable grasp of even basic financial concepts seems to be important.