Creditors of research group van Eyk Research voted yesterday to liquidate the business, again putting the spotlight on how investment research in Australia is conducted, how it is funded, and how research businesses are structured.
The provision of high quality research is fundamental to the role that financial planners play in creating effective and robust investment solutions for clients. Research has to be technically sound, of course, but it must also be communicated in terms that can help financial planners in turn explain to clients how a particular fund, model portfolio or other solution works, and how it is likely to perform under various market and economic conditions.
Professional Planner and CoreData are currently conducting a survey into how financial planners use the research they receive, either from their licensee or from an external, third-party research group; and, just as importantly, how they rate its quality and its usefulness. Professional Planner readers are invited to take part in the survey, which takes about 10 minutes to complete.
The key findings will be presented to the Professional Planner Dealer Group Research Forum* in Sydney on December 2, and Professional Planner will publish a comprehensive report on the findings. Everyone completing the survey goes into a draw to win an iPad Air with Wi-Fi + Cellular 16Gb, valued at $749.
In a statement issued on Monday, the voluntary administrator of the van Eyk business, Trent Hancock, said that even if creditors elected to wind-up the company at a meeting held yesterday it would “not preclude the sale process currently underway for the assets and business of van Eyk Research”.
It said a deal was “well advanced with a party for the New Zealand business”.
“With regard to the Australian business, the Administrator has entered into an Exclusivity Agreement with a preferred purchaser, who is currently conducting due diligence,” it said.
Professional Planner’s November edition cover story examines the state of the research business research in Australia, and places the van Eyk situation in the context of an industry that is forever changing and evolving – and where the departure of a research business is not a new occurrence.
It examines how research is created and disseminated in the Australian market, and how research groups – both those housed within dealer groups or licensees, and external research houses – should be structured and run, to avoid conflicts of interest and possible contagion from other business activities, such as operating a funds management business on the back of a research business.
* The Professional Planner Dealer Group Research Forum is a not-to-be-missed event for anyone engaged in researching managed fund products, constructing and maintaining approved product lists, and for providing financial planners with the tools they need to implement effective investment solutions for clients.
Featuring the findings of exclusive financial planner research, panel sessions involving leading industry practitioners and extensive small-group discussions, the Forum is the one event on the calendar developed specifically for the research professional.
The 2014 Forum features a presentation on findings of exclusive research conducted by CoreData; and an update from Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) Ombudsman Michael Arnold on the role played by research in complaints received by FOS.
Places at the 2014 Forum are limited and are filling quickly. To register to attend this event, and to view the agenda, please go to www.dealergroupresearch.com
There is no cost to attend the Forum for eligible participants.
