Morgan Stanley’s analyst report from May, AMP:
BoLR decoded, sizes up AMP’s potential BoLR liability under various planner exodus outcomes.
Vertical integration warps financial advice
More locally than in the US, where there is less concentration of power.
With only five large financial institutions dominating the wealth management landscape in Australia, vertical integration’s effect on advice here is more potent than in the US, Morningstar’s global chief executive, Kunal Kapoor, told PP on the sidelines of the research house’s annual conference in Sydney.
Concentration at the big end of town has “certainly had an impact on the way advice has developed”, Kapoor said.
Failed commission
Most advisers (more than 70 per cent) polled online by PP believe the royal commission failed to uncover the most relevant issues in the financial advice sector.
Fronting up
AMP advice executive Michael Paff fronted a number of the company’s rep practices to field questions on Buyer of Last Resort.
Ripped off
The securities regulator has compensated customers ripped off by the fee-for-no advice scam this amount to date.
Adviser portability
Advisers have been leaving institutionally owned licensees for smaller and self-licensed options in recent years, recent PP licensee research shows.
Adviser movement will only continue and privately owned advice businesses will be at the centre of this churn, Adviser Ratings research shows.
While there are fears new education standards could lead to a mass exodus of experienced advisers from the industry, live polling at the FPA’s recent national roadshow reveals 80 per cent of those asked agree with new education standards.
Individual licensing
Individual licensing is perhaps the most radical change ever suggested to the status quo for financial advisers.
An individual licensing regime would shift the professional obligation away from licensees and firmly onto individuals.
While there is much to be done regarding how this might work, the FPA’s Dante De Gori told PP an individual licensing regime could prevent rogue advisers turning up under different brands.
Equality in action
The world could add this amount to global GDP by 2025 if women and men participated equally in the economy, a State Street Global Advisors study found.
Halve your SoAs
“Most SoAs can be cut in half”, YTML’s Terri Ho says, adding that this is the ideal length for an average Statement of Advice.
Keep your distance
Financial advisers in the stockbroking industry distanced themselves from some of the worst sins uncovered by the royal commission at the SAFAA’s national conference.
Perfect conditions
CommSec’s Craig James tells an SMSFA event “Business conditions are at record highs”, citing the IMF’s YoY global growth prediction for the next two years.
