When private credit becomes the headline, but not the signal
Framing retail access of private credit as “misuse” risks oversimplifying what is, in reality, a broader structural shift underway across markets, writes Portfolio Construction Forum’s Nick Shoenmaker. Private markets are no longer accessed as standalone exposures and are integrated into portfolios through multi-asset managed account structures.
April 29, 2026
Solving the $326bn ‘stranded’ pension asset problem
More than 1.5 million Australians aged 65 and over are sitting in accumulation phase, paying tax they don’t need to pay. The Actuaries Institute has a plan to fix that, and it doesn’t ask funds to do anything the government and regulators aren’t already pushing them to do.
April 29, 2026
Managed accounts experts urge ASIC to proceed with caution on crackdown
ASIC should be cautious about pushing back too hard on managed accounts as the alternative would be advisers playing portfolio manager, the latest episode of the Professional Planner Managed Accounts Decoded podcast heard.
April 28, 2026
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?
April 28, 2026
It’s the conflicts of interest, stupid! The uncomfortable truth about reform
The industry’s longstanding failure to deal with conflicts of interest is the main reason why governments will talk about removing ineffective regulation, but rarely follow through, writes Robert MC Brown.
April 24, 2026
ASIC steps up finfluencer crackdown as it targets licensees
The corporate watchdog is expanding its surveillance of so-called “finfluencers” to include those that are authorised representatives of AFS licensees, signalling that its interest in the area extends well beyond stamping out only unlicensed and unauthorised operators.
April 24, 2026
Diversa applies for $239m First Guardian government bailout
Diversa Trustees has applied to the government for a bailout of First Guardian investors worth approximately $239 million, arguing the losses were a result of fraud and remediation will be in the best financial interest to members.
April 23, 2026
Managed account growth drags on GDG results: Morningstar
Morningstar says that Generation Development Group’s growth in managed accounts has failed to meet investor expectations and was the cause of a drop in GDG’s share price following the release of March quarter results. The analyst note comes despite Morningstar running competing businesses with GDG, including managed accounts, although it made clear the equity analysis retains a clear separation from other business lines.
April 23, 2026
The hundreds of millions of bucks that stop with the Sequoia board
The failures of oversight, compliance and management that placed InterPrac Financial Planning squarely at the centre of one of the biggest advice scandals of the past decade can be traced back to the performance of the board and management of its parent company, Sequoia Financial Group, writes Simon Hoyle.
April 22, 2026
Govt urged to act quickly on adviser education standard reforms
A three-part framework for new financial adviser education standards has received widespread support from industry and professional bodies across the spectrum, but the government has been told to act urgently to implement reforms to reverse a precipitous decline in adviser numbers since 2019 and to make advice more affordable and accessible.
April 22, 2026
Shield, First Guardian reforms must not become a covert operation to restrict competition
There is broad consensus in industry and Canberra that the collapses of the Shield and First Guardian master funds – and failures that led to them – demand a regulatory response. But getting that response wrong could create an uneven playing field in the industry and some counterproductive consumer outcomes.
April 21, 2026
