Memberships with benefits: Banking on the financial planning profession
At the end of January this year, BOQ Specialist, which provides targeted banking solutions to niche professional markets, announced it had formed a partnership with the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) to become the preferred financial services provider to AFA members. BOQ Specialist is a division of Bank of Queensland. AFA Practitioner members have access
June 09, 2015
Financial planning Licensee of the Year honours split as CoreData research reveals winners
CoreData’s annual Licensee of the Year honours have been shared in 2015 after the methodology underpinning the analysis couldn’t separate the two top groups. GPS Wealth and Fortnum Financial Advisers have been named as joint Licensees of the Year, reflecting the esteem in which the licensees are held by financial planners themselves; while the ANZ
June 08, 2015
FEATURE: Accountants go back to the future in stunning bid to reclaim the advice space
Alex Malley, chief executive officer of CPA Australia, says the organisation’s decision to launch its own financial planning licensee isn’t revolutionary. It’s simply back to the future. CPA Australia is by any measure a significant organisation. It did not have to become a dealer group in its own right, yet it announced on Friday last
June 08, 2015
Two questions you should ask your fund manager
The Certified Financial Analyst (CFA Society) announced on Wednesday that AustralianSuper supported the adoption of the CFA Asset Manager Code of Professional Conduct. When I read a story like this, I always wonder how investor psychology has been incorporated into their thinking. Particularly the CFA Society, which is certainly across the field of behavioural finance.
June 05, 2015
The sketch artist and the adviser: IRESS deal forms an engaging union
IRESS’s acquisition of financial planning content provider Innergi is aimed at helping advisers engage more effectively with clients across a variety of mediums – including cartoons and caricatures. The deal will provide advisers using XPLAN – which is owned by IRESS – with access to ready-made e-newsletter templates along with articles, videos and structured learning
June 04, 2015
Financial planning licensees call for better promotion of profession, clearer graduate career paths
Financial planning as a profession needs to more clearly map out career paths for new entrants, and sell the benefits of financial planning as a career to potential university graduates, according to leading dealer group and licensee heads. The Professional Planner Dealer Group Summit, held in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney on Monday and
June 04, 2015
Independent financial planner? Either you really are, or you are not. There is no middle ground
I’d venture to say that 100 per cent of licensed financial advisers would claim publicly that they advise and act at all times in their clients’ best interests. This begs an important question: If advisers are universally fastidious about their clients’ welfare, why is the industry in so much trouble over damaging revelations arising since
June 04, 2015
Professional Standards up as new education initiative takes hold
Australia’s largest life insurer TAL, today confirmed its training and education initiative, the TAL Risk Academy (the Academy), is receiving record applications as more financial advisers seek ongoing high quality professional education. Recently launched after 18 months in development, the Academy combines existing training courses with a number of new additions, resulting in a comprehensive
June 03, 2015
Financial planning industry is getting over Trowbridge shock to develop ‘sensible’ solutions
The financial planning industry has overcome its initial shock to the recommendations of the Trowbridge report, and is starting to converge on “sensible” solutions, according to leading financial planning licensee and dealer group heads. In a session debriefing a series of small-group discussions held at the 2015 Professional Planner Dealer Group Summit on Monday and
June 02, 2015
Changing fortunes in WA highlight the dual role of financial planning
Helping clients make smart decisions with their money is as important during market downturns as it is in boom times, according to David Sharpe, chair of the Financial Planning Association’s Western Australia chapter. “The role is always going to be there one way or the other, whether on the upside or limiting the downside. With
June 02, 2015
Why wishing and hoping for referrals is not a robust business strategy
In recent weeks, I have been involved in a number of conversations about client referrals, so I thought it might be worth exploring what may be a controversial topic. My focus here is not on referrals from your professional networks, centres of influence or alliance partners. The focus is on referrals of potential clients from
June 02, 2015
Is your retirement income planning approach up to date?
Financial planners need a clearly defined advice philosophy for retirement income planning and above all, it must be contemporary, says John Carnevale, general manager of advice services, Challenger Limited. “Is your retirement income philosophy contemporary? I’m not saying there’s one right or wrong answer, but it’s an issue that the whole industry is grappling with,”
June 01, 2015
