Going bespoke: a business without baggage
When Peter Jacob started Alphington Private Wealth four years ago he decided to ignore how financial planning practices usually worked. His background was in investing and private banking, and in building his new business, he took the view that everything should be structured to put the client first. “I set up Alphington without the baggage
January 24, 2016
Professionalising financial planning – are we there yet?
How many times have we heard the hackneyed assertion that “the financial planning industry is on a journey towards professionalism”? While I can’t say exactly what it means, I can say that it is invariably offered as a somewhat impatient response to querulous commentators who suggest that the latest round of reforms may not achieve
January 24, 2016
Save time and effort by learning how to talk to zombies
Financial planners frequently make the mistake of constantly being out there frantically trying to find new clients and build new relationships. We get caught attending copious networking events, handing out business cards, feeling pushy and weird, and disappointed at the lack of results or the one-way nature of referrals. Most financial planners have prospects they’ve
January 24, 2016
AustralianSuper lifts stake in King’s Cross development
AustralianSuper has announced a further $900 million investment in the 27-hectare mixed-use office, residential and leisure site, King’s Cross development in London. The acquisition will lift AustralianSuper’s ownership to a 67.5% stake in one of the most important and biggest city centre regeneration projects in Europe with 860,000 square meters of offices, homes, hotels, leisure,
January 24, 2016
ING DIRECT Australia CEO Vaughn Richtor to retire
After 24 years with ING, Vaughn Richtor, CEO of ING DIRECT Australia and CEO of ING Retail Banking Asia has decided to retire from the business mid-2016. ING DIRECT Chair Michael Katz, praised Mr Richtor as a visionary leader who was instrumental in setting up ING DIRECT in Australia. “Vaughn will be leaving a highly
January 22, 2016
Flexible commission structures within the new rules
Advisers are set to gain greater control over their insurance sales with more providers expected to follow Asteron Life’s decision to introduce a range of flexible commission options. Asteron has announced it will give advisers a choice between a new customised commission rate, a new hybrid rate, and, for advisers looking to move to a
January 21, 2016
The opportune time for debating what superannuation is for
The Association of Superannuation funds of Australia (ASFA) has “urged caution” over a proposal to allow former tertiary students access to their superannuation funds to pay off HELP debts. There’s a kind of code embedded in these sorts of statements and press releases. Just as in Yes Minister describing an idea as “courageous” was Sir
January 21, 2016
Defining the boundaries of the licensed advice zone
The boundaries of financial advice will be explored in a session at the SMSF Association National Conference next month in a bid to answer accountants’ questions about whether their current activities are likely to fall under the new limited Australian financial services licensing regime. With the end of the accountants’ exemption on June 30, there
January 21, 2016
The advice conundrum: cheap yet unaffordable
Most Australians think financial advice is too expensive, yet many advice practices aren’t profitable, let alone flourishing. It’s a major conundrum. But it’s one that can be fixed. The primary reason why so many advisers undercharge is because deep down they still believe they get paid for the sale of a product. They don’t place
January 19, 2016
The public perceives that “wheeler” and “dealer” go together
The financial planning industry consistently uses the term “dealer group” to describe a certain type of Australian financial service licensee. The annual “Top 100 Dealer Groups” is an important information resource, both within and outside the industry. Industry awards honour the “Dealer Group of the Year”. However, the financial planning industry may not be well
January 19, 2016
Zen and the art of responding to a sharemarket slump
There is a rich seam of wisdom about how to respond to market slumps. This tells me two things. First, it says that market volatility is not unusual, it is a shared experience and therefore worth commenting on. Second, it suggests that most people do the wrong thing when the market falls – if we
January 19, 2016
Markets spooked as oil leads commodity crash and other reasons to panic (or not to panic)
What a start to 2016, says George Lucas, managing director Instreet Investment. “With a change in calendar year, came a change in investor sentiment sparking a large sell off in the markets. I think this was unexpected because: 1. There is no sign of a recession on the horizon for the US, Australia or China
January 19, 2016
