Professional Planner Dealer Group Research Forum 2014 – photo gallery
December 05, 2014
Adelaide practice prefers non-alignment for flexibility and control
The father-son directors of Adelaide practice Planning for Prosperity, Bob and Daniel Budreika, decided just two years after launching that their institutional AFS licensee didn’t provide the flexibility they wanted. “When we were coming up with our own way of running the business, from a clean slate, we worked out ‘hang on, we want to
December 05, 2014
If more education is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, what is the point?
The Australian financial services industry is highly regulated, especially when it comes to the provision of financial advice. Even so, there is still concern about the inadequacy of education levels among advisers. In recent years, this concern has been aggravated by the high-profile collapses of advisory firms Westpoint and Storm Financial, where poor financial advice
December 05, 2014
Financial planners must make time to make time
I would like to follow on from last month’s column and explore how you might devote a greater proportion of your working week to engaging with your clients. You may recall that I had concluded that what advisers most enjoy about their work is what they deliver for their clients: great trusted relationships; clever solutions
December 05, 2014
Dealer groups urged to embrace innovation in new post-FoFA environment
Financial planning practices are demanding greater freedom of choice in the service providers they use, according to the director of financial advice software start-up Adviser Intelligence. “There’s still just so much arrogance and disconnect between the platform providers and the dealer groups, and the tools of what the independent financial advisers are needing,” Jacqui Henderson
December 03, 2014
FoFA fiasco creates financial advice confusion
The recent disallowance of a package of Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) refinements put through by the Government creates yet more confusion in the advice world, writes Michael Vrisakis. Due to the disallowance, the FoFA Regulations that came into effect on 1 July 2014 have ceased to have effect. Accordingly, the FoFA laws implemented by
December 03, 2014
The ABC of setting up a self managed super fund
Whether it’s naming the super fund, or naming the corporate trustee, Bryce Figot advises clients to keep things simple – or risk running into problems further down the track. After years of experience in the superannuation industry, I have formed some opinions on what works best – and what doesn’t work so well – when
December 03, 2014
Effective risk profiling continues to be a key contributor to confidence in advice
In the UK, confidence in financial advice has grown steadily over recent years. Core to that improvement has been a strong commitment to suitable personal advice with risk profiling central. In contrast, in Australia, confidence by consumers in the advice industry is hovering at a low and most people won’t go near a financial adviser.
December 01, 2014
As the credits roll, time to reflect on 2014’s Tales of the Unexpected
Finalising my thoughts on what 2015 holds for investors, I reminded myself of what I said a year ago. Doing so brought to mind a television series that was popular in the late 1970s; Tales of the Unexpected always ended with an intriguing twist. There have been more than a few of these so far
December 01, 2014
Business brokers anticipate an upsurge in practice movement
A spike in the sale of financial planning practices is tipped following the clarification of grandfathering provisions under the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) laws, according to Paul Tynan, chief executive officer of Connect Financial Service Brokers. “I’ve had a spike of people selling, I’ve never had more sellers than buyers, but there’s a few
November 28, 2014
Financial planning groups relieved as a bipartisan FoFA deal is reached
Financial planning industry and professional associations have breathed a collective sigh of relief over the decision to reinstate a number of elements of the disallowed Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) regulations. Following the bipartisan deal struck between the Government and Opposition on Tuesday, a motion is due to be filed in the Senate when parliament
November 28, 2014
