In it for the duration: Why advisers need to get flexible to meet clients’ return expectations
There’s an investment saying which is as old as it is popular: It’s all about time in the market, not timing the market. Time is indeed a crucial yardstick of valuation, and when it comes to bonds, so too is duration. Bond duration is a measure of a portfolio’s sensitivity to changes in interest rates
September 10, 2014
Are you paying your staff too much, or not paying enough to compete?
Financial planning firms that participate in ground-breaking research to quantify for the first time the nature and the quantum of remuneration structures across the financial planning industry will get first look at new remuneration benchmarking data at no cost. Griffith University and Zanetti Recruitment & Consulting (ZRC) are studying remuneration, benefits, incentive and bonus structures, role
September 09, 2014
Education standards must not slow growth in financial planner numbers
Striking the right balance between financial planner education standards and an industry accessible to promising new recruits is critical, according to one young self-employed financial planner. Evan Hill runs his own practice, HSA Financial, which provides financial advice to clients in Sydney’s central business district and suburbs surrounding Concord, Strathfield, Bankstown and Liverpool. He operates
September 08, 2014
REVEALED: Professional Planner|Zenith Fund Awards 2014 – more finalists
The second half of the list of finalists in the Professional Planner|Zenith fund Awards 2014 has been released, covering fund categories including Australian and international equities, and multi-sector funds – and the contenders for the 2014 Fund Distributor of the Year. The finalists are identified using the respected and robust research methodology of Zenith Investment
September 08, 2014
The Harvard scholarship winner plotting a revolution in financial planning
A winner of a scholarship to study at Harvard in the US has his sights set on nothing less than a revolution in how financial planning services are delivered. A 2015 Menzies Scholar for the Commonwealth of Australia, Simon Malian, is studying a Master of Science, majoring in computational science and engineering. He plans to use
September 05, 2014
Why mining tax repeal and SG freeze pose dilemma for professional financial planners
If you were hoping to find a thread of logic through the government’s scrapping of the minerals resource rent tax (the “mining tax”) and freezing superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions, you might have been disappointed. There’s better news if you were looking for a trend, but that trend poses an exquisite dilemma for a financial planner.
September 05, 2014
REVEALED: Professional Planner|Zenith Fund Awards 2014 – the first finalists
The team at Zenith Investment Partners has been working overtime making a list – and checking it twice – and for an elite group of fund managers, all their Christmases will come at once (and early) when the winners of the 2014 Professional Planner|Zenith Fund Awards are unveiled next month. In the meantime, the first
September 05, 2014
Pro bono Financial Advice Network to give something back, lift standing of profession
A fundamental commitment to providing the community with access to pro bono services is a hallmark of every trusted and respected profession, and the newly formed Pro Bono Financial Advice Network (PFAN) aims to both give back to the community and raise the standing of the fledgling financial planning profession. The PFAN is designed to
September 03, 2014
A legacy of commissions is a lingering challenge for financial planning
The large volume of financial planning clients tied to obsolete commission-based remuneration arrangements poses a significant challenge for the industry, according to a senior figure at consultancy group Rice Warner. Steve Freeborn, Rice Warner’s head of superannuation and investments, refers to the situation whereby commissions from legacy books of client business – those pre-dating July
September 03, 2014
Call to exempt advisers aged over 60 from key regulatory reforms
Financial planners and financial advisers aged over 60 should be granted special exemptions from a raft of potential regulatory changes, according to a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry into proposals to lift the professional, ethical and education standards in the financial services industry, A director of Dean Evans
September 03, 2014
Private member’s bill to ‘outlaw general advice’
Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson will introduce a private member’s bill to the senate today proposing an amendment to the Corporations Act to change the term “general advice” to “general information”, and to make it illegal to claim to be giving “advice” when providing only general information. A spokesperson for Senator Whish-Wilson says the bill
September 02, 2014
