Govt canvasses whether ASIC has enough oversight of PI arrangements
Treasury will review PI insurance and how it can help the sustainability of the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, with additional oversight for ASIC to make sure licensees are sufficiently insured or more power for the CSLR to make PI claims on behalf of an insolvent firm among the options being reviewed.
December 15, 2025
SMA reporting standard reaches ‘starting point’ consensus
Senior investment research, licensee, asset consulting and managed accounts executives have developed the key elements of the dataset needed for a minimum “starter” SMA reporting standard to improve transparency and accountability. The standard was workshopped at the Professional Planner Researcher Forum and comes as the corporate regulator heightens oversight of managed accounts.
December 12, 2025
CSLR special levy will need never-ending campaign, FAAA fears
The Financial Advice Association Australia says it is concerned the government’s decision to broaden the funding of the CSLR special levy beyond financial advisers for FY26 does not mean the profession will be spared in subsequent years. Instead, advisers and their associations will need to lobby each and every year to prevent being held solely responsible.
December 11, 2025
Why Bitcoin could be a ‘new building block’ of finance
Bitcoin and the technologies that underpin it could disrupt the entire finance industry, and it’s “beholden upon everyone” to learn about them even as they make up their own minds about what to do with them, the Professional Planner Researcher Forum has heard.
December 11, 2025
Govt to crack down on ‘inappropriate’ advice fee charging
The government intends to introduce a cooling-off period for consumers switching super funds, limit “inappropriate” financial advice fee charging and make changes to anti-hawking laws to mitigate the impact of lead generators. The changes are part of the government's response to the collapse of Shield and First Guardian.
December 10, 2025
‘Unfair and unsustainable’: Advisers double dipped for CSLR special levy
Financial advisers and APRA-regulated super funds will be among those required to cover the shortfall of the CSLR special levy, but the government said a decision will not set a precedent for future cases. Advisers will still carry 22 per cent of the levy which the FAAA says is “unfair and unsustainable”.
December 10, 2025
ETF innovation continues to disrupt the market
The growth and popularity of broad-based equity market ETFs have paved the way for a burgeoning range of innovative fixed income and smart beta ETFs, with all three generations increasingly represented in model portfolios and managed accounts.
December 10, 2025
Investing in AI beyond the Mag 7
Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, the Magnificent 7 companies have accounted for more than half the S&P 500 Index as AI has become the dominant theme for markets, writes Betashares investment strategist Hugh Lam. But that investment opportunity set is now broader, with many other firms likely to thrive as AI technologies proliferate and data centre capacity grows.
December 10, 2025
ASIC accuses Diversa of failing to enforce First Guardian holding limits
ASIC alleges that Diversa Trustees failed to enforce a 50 per cent holding limit that was meant to be imposed on the First Guardian Master Fund and is suing the trustee for a raft of due diligence failures. But Diversa argues it was a victim of fraud and said that an application for government assistance to remediate victims will be made by year end.
December 09, 2025
Platforms can no longer pretend to just be tech providers
With adviser platforms now operating in a prudentially-regulated environment, and facing down heightened policy and media scrutiny, they can no longer present themselves as just technology providers, according to The Conexus Institute. Those that complain won’t get far.
December 09, 2025
