Top tips for easing the burgeoning compliance burden
As the compliance burden on advisers gets heavier, four experts share their strategies for easing the load. Their messages are simple, and can be adapted to work seamlessly with existing processes and workflows.
August 08, 2025
Performance test review on the table
The Albanese government is expected to hold a review of the Your Future Your Super performance test within the next year to ensure super funds can invest in members’ best financial interests. While supporters credit the test for weeding out poor funds and helping to keep fees low for members, critics warn it has encouraged herding behaviour and disincentivises ESG and sustainable investment.
August 08, 2025
InterPrac cutting ties with second firm linked to Shield, First Guardian failures
Sequoia-owned licensee InterPrac is in the process of terminating its relationship with Reilly Financial, one of the advice firms under investigation by the corporate regulator as part of its response to the $1.2 billion Shield and First Guardian collapse.
August 07, 2025
More calls for regulatory reform due to Shield, First Guardian collapses
AMP head Alexis George believes the regulatory framework for responsible entities needs to be “watertight” due to the billion-dollar collapses of the Shield and First Guardian master funds. Meanwhile, shadow Minister for Financial Services Pat Conaghan has called for a “serious examination” of the regulatory framework and ASIC to understand why warning signs keep being missed.
August 07, 2025
Building, transferring and controlling wealth: Dead or alive
It’s human nature to want control over your life and money and, in some situations, power and control over others. This is especially the case where family legacy and vast amounts of wealth are at stake, but how much control can people exert over future generations after they die? Generation Life chief executive Felipe Araujo writes apparently, it's a lot.
August 07, 2025
Shield, First Guardian saga won’t deter govt from DBFO push
New Minister for Financial Services Daniel Mulino says the billion-dollar collapse of the Shield and First Guardian funds will not dampen his commitment to winding back excessive red tape in financial advice to expand access. In an exclusive interview with Professional Planner the minister says advice reform is critical to the success of Australia’s retirement system and signals fresh customer service standards in super.
August 06, 2025
Super, financial services to play key role in national productivity
The financial services sector has an important role to play in boosting economic productivity and resilience, says Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Daniel Mulino ahead of the Albanese government’s high-profile Economic Reform Roundtable later this month.
August 06, 2025
Push to serve 200 clients throws adviser burnout risk into spotlight
An imbalance between the demand for financial advice and the number of professionals available to provide it is making burnout increasingly prevalent across the industry as advisers are asked to see as many as 200 clients a year. Practice leaders are paying closer attention to staff well-being as psychological safety is not only a workplace culture concern, but also a legal obligation.
August 05, 2025
FSC raids ASFA in battle for super supremacy
The Financial Services Council has recruited a trio of Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia staffers as the rival lobby groups compete for peak body status in the fractured and politically charged $4 trillion sector. The raid follows the FSC’s hire of former ASFA commercial director Justine Earl-Smith late last year and addition of CareSuper and Brighter Super to the FSC membership.
August 05, 2025
Dissecting the CSLR’s most contentious special levy option
There are four core options for funding the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort’s special levy that Treasury is reviewing, which would cover the $47.3 million excess for FY26. Previous consultations found the most contentious option would be spreading the excess levy across other subsectors, but the latest paper shows exactly how much of a cost that would be across the broader financial services industry.
August 04, 2025
Aware’s TelstraSuper takeover is a high stakes game for both funds
Having walked away from one well-advanced merger this year already, pressure is on the TelstraSuper board to make its latest merger proposal stick. But as it bids to compete with the two largest mega-funds, Aware Super is feeling the heat too.
August 04, 2025
Troubled Sequoia presses former ASIC Commissioner into governance service
Former ASIC Commissioner Danielle Press will lead a dedicated committee to enhance oversight and governance at Sequoia as it tries to lift standards in the wake of the Shield and First Guardian scandal.
August 01, 2025
