Shortlist of who can police industry and set standards gets shorter by the day
Last week the chief executive officer of Infocus Wealth Management, Rod Bristow, wrote about the danger the financial planning profession faces from losing its “social licence” – that is, the privilege granted to it by the public to occupy a particular position of trust and respect in the community. One of the issues undermining the
March 16, 2015
Moving house: how growth opportunities drove Plenary Wealth licensee switch
From start to finish, it took the North Sydney-based financial planning business Plenary Wealth about three months to complete a move from one Australian financial service licensee (AFSL) to another. Plenary co-founder Julian Nowland says that while the move from Financial Wisdom to Fortnum Financial Group has gone about as smoothly as it could be
March 13, 2015
Why owning your own licence makes you master of your destiny
There are many types of adviser practices that have obtained their own licence and run a successful advice practice and business, from larger multi-adviser practices to single adviser operations, from general financial planning practices to those that specialise in say SMSFs or particular investment strategies. What the successful ones have in common is they
March 13, 2015
IN FOCUS: Pioneering protection products for the looming retirement boom
In recent years, the first of Australia’s baby boomers have hit retirement age. They have done so amid a surge in market volatility. That combination has triggered a renewed focus on the provision of innovative retirement and longevity products that give retirees a stable income, but also address a range of complex risks. “We’re seeing product innovation in this space and demand is emerging,” says MLC
March 12, 2015
A string of scandals undermines the ‘social licence’ of financial planners
While in the US recently, I picked up a copy of a prominent newspaper to read about the latest in a long line of issues associated with the Australian wealth management industry. The story was actually about the Australian wealth management industry – so the challenges we’re experiencing are news internationally. The story was about
March 11, 2015
Cases of planner misconduct point to a solution beyond banks, remuneration and ASIC
Amid the same hand-wringing and anti-bank sentiment that accompanied the CBA Financial Planning (CBAFP) scandal, the NAB Wealth case ultimately points to the same overall shortcoming in Australian financial planning. Group executive of NAB Wealth, Andrew Hagger, faced a grilling from a panel of senators led by Sam Dastyari last Friday. This was prefaced by
March 11, 2015
India’s years of playing bridesmaid to China may be nearing an end
Whatever you think about India – and it’s been in the news for good and bad of late – you can’t ignore it. Years of playing bridesmaid to China look like they are coming to an end. On current trends, the South Asian giant will soon be the world’s fastest-growing major economy and its most
March 11, 2015
Slack regulation, poor competition are complacency risks for financial planning
One of the biggest threats facing Australian financial planning businesses is simple complacency, according to a co-founder and director of risk profiling business FinaMetrica, Paul Resnik. FinaMetrica’s business operates in 23 countries and its risk profiling software has been translated into eight languages. Resnik says the differences between financial planning businesses in the UK, the
March 09, 2015
Senate Committee rejects NAB Wealth calls to ‘trust us’
The Senate Economics References Committee’s Scrutiny of Financial Advice has rejected repeated claims from senior NAB Wealth executives that the group itself can be trusted to identify, review and compensate victims of adviser misconduct. Amid revelations NAB has paid out more than $14.5 million in compensation to around 900 clients over the past five years,
March 09, 2015
Helping your clients avoid behavioural traps in strong markets
Markets are reaching all-time highs in a range of asset classes. Thanks to the strong rise in the past three years, returns over most periods going back even a decade are looking rock solid. Environments like this can breed overconfidence in your clients, and tempt them into taking undue risk in their portfolios. It may
March 09, 2015
Yellow Brick Road offers an alternative route into the financial planning profession
The acquisition of mortgage broking business Vow Financial has added about 450 businesses and 800 individuals to the ranks of Yellow Brick Road’s mortgage brokers and financial planners. YBR now has about 600 businesses and more than 1000 brokers and planners. Chief executive Matt Lawler (pictured) says the company is on track to post its
March 06, 2015
Financial planners need to specialise rather than generalise
Specialised skill sets are increasingly important for financial planners, says Craig Banning, director, Navwealth Financial Group. He uses the example of self-managed super (SMSF) advice. When asked if this requires specialised knowledge, Banning says, “I think it does.” This is why every adviser within Navwealth that deals with super clients holds the SMSF Association’s SMSF
March 06, 2015
