Industry Updates

Retirees sour on fund services as expectations go unmet

New research from CoreData and Conexus Financial finds retirement satisfaction with super funds recorded its sharpest plunge on record this year, and it’s not only members approaching retirement who feel let down. The Best Possible Retirement study shows that pre-retirees’ expectations of how much they’ll need to be comfortable has leapt, and members already well into retirement also feel abandoned.

Very few HNW clients feel they’re getting a personalised service

Only 17 per cent of high-net-worth clients around the world say their advice feels “seamless and personalised”. The 30th edition of the Capgemini World Wealth Report explains why fragmentation is rising and why “orchestration” of services is the answer, but warns that firms chasing personalisation at scale must have the right client insights and information in place first.

APRA deputy chair appointment sparks political backlash

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has appointed APRA insider Therese McCarthy Hockey and former Labor Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury to the prudential regulator to replace Margaret Cole, citing “increasing scale and complexity in the financial system”. But Bradbury’s appointment has sparked swift backlash from the Coalition.

Calls for new funding streams as FY27 CSLR advice levy hits $190.3m

The revised FY27 Compensation Scheme of Last Resort levy has fallen short of the $250 million worst-case scenario but has increased by $60 million from the initial estimate. The industry has called on the government to address funding shortfalls in a way that won’t impact advisers, as the subsector accounts for $190.3 million of the $198.1 million total.

‘Best possible outcome’ sees First Guardian investors cop massive loss on failed property deal

First Guardian investors will get 8 cents on the dollar back on a loan the fund made to a property developer in western Melbourne, with liquidators FTI Consulting saying they believe this was the “best possible outcome” for unitholders.

Shadforth is buying businesses, not books

Not even a year on from its acquisition of Melbourne-based financial advice firm PMD Financial Advisers, Shadforth is still looking for M&A opportunities but strictly to add like-minded advisers, rather than just client books. CEO Terry Dillon tells Professional Planner what those ideal businesses looks like.

WT sells re-branded Spring Financial Group

WT Financial Group has completed the sale of its re-branded Spring Financial Group to Titan Advice Group, turning one of its first "Hubco" businesses into a $19 million super firm, while holding onto a minority stake.

Beware ‘unconscious concentration’: Rethinking diversification

Diversification is one of the most familiar ideas in investing. But Orbis Investments’ Eric Marais writes that looking around at the concentration risk that now defines large parts of today’s market, it is also one of the ideas most in need of a rethink.

Overlooked and unloved: Opportunities beyond technology and AI

Produced in partnership with Orbis Investments. Orbis Investments head of IT and healthcare research, Povilas Dapkevicius, is feeling uncomfortable. For the past three years, global equities have surged around 22 per cent per annum, driven higher by mega-cap technology stocks and the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The June initial public offer of SpaceX, which finished

Industry-wide standards essential to robust cybersecurity

Advice licensees and advice firms hold client data valuable enough to make every business a target. The 2026 Professional Planner Licensee Summit heard that the only way to know a cybersecurity policy is working is to verify the controls in real time, and that industry-wide standards are a must.

Super seat vacant at APRA as platform woes grow

The prudential regulator has no successor or interim appointee to replace deputy chair Margaret Cole, who stepped down today, leaving the more than $3 trillion APRA-regulated super sector with no supervisor-in-chief as scrutiny on its platform segment grows.

ASIC lambasts platform trustees for poor adviser oversight

ASIC has criticised platform trustees’ oversight of advice documents, monitoring of advice fee caps and investment holding limits in a damning report covering the industry’s major providers. The report comes as the Super Members Council launches a fresh attack on the more than $1 billion in advice fees being deducted from superannuants’ accounts.

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