Spectre of the royal commission hangs over super fund advice
As super funds scale up their advice provision, they’ll need to navigate murky governance waters and make sure their members are empowered to look elsewhere to get their advice needs met.
July 01, 2025
Super fund executives raked in millions despite issues brewing
The leaders of super funds took home millions in pay during FY24, the latest iteration of Investment Magazine’s Salary Survey shows, ahead of a year that saw the system plagued by member service and claims handling scandals.
June 30, 2025
Viridian sells stake to private equity investor TA Associates
Global private equity firm TA Associates will make a strategic investment in licensee Viridian Advisory. It comes despite an investigation by Professional Planner that uncovered concerns over conflicts of interest in the licensee’s business structure.
June 30, 2025
Client or adviser: Who is the real beneficiary of managed accounts?
The rise of managed accounts has reshaped the economics and efficiencies of financial advice practices and licensees. But the benefits for clients can be diluted or indeed lost altogether if a managed account does not produce a superior after-tax and after-fee return.
June 27, 2025
1700 advisers at risk of not meeting education deadline: Kaplan
Kaplan Professional believes around 1700 advisers are at risk of not meeting the deadline to have an approved tertiary qualification. The education provider has launched an intensive study period which it believes will reduce that gap to 500 advisers come the 1 January 2026 deadline.
June 27, 2025
Licensees go head-to-head in a ‘battle for likeability’
Adviser satisfaction with licensees is at record highs, according to the latest annual data produced by CoreData and presented to the Professional Planner Licensee Summit. And even though the attraction of self-licensing remains real, there are four key elements that drive adviser happiness with their licensee.
June 26, 2025
FSC calls for ‘one-off injection of government funding’ for Dixon claims
The Financial Services Council has called on the government to fund the rest of the claims that arose from the collapse of Dixon Advisory to reduce the financial burden on financial advisers via the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort.
June 26, 2025
‘A whole-of-system approach’ necessary to address advice gap
While licensees can play a significant part in closing the advice gap, a whole-of-system approach is required to make meaningful change in the profession. Licensees, advice practices, platforms and product providers should work together to fix the supply chain and increase capacity for more Australians to receive advice.
June 25, 2025
Understanding clients a ‘fantastic’ starting point but frequently stops there
Advice practices seeking to understand their clients’ needs is a great starting point as part of building their methodology for delivering retirement advice, Challenger head of technical services Andrew Lowe told the Professional Planner Licensee Summit. But he also warned quality retirement advice means going beyond just understanding client needs.
June 25, 2025
Shadforth’s dramatic plan to double
in size
With around 100 advisers and more than 250 staff, Shadforth is seeking to dramatically improve productivity and enhance adviser efficiency. It’s in the first year of a journey that will overhaul its advice tech stack which it expects will help the group double in size.
June 24, 2025
Small licence, conflicted SMSF advice models driving CSLR claims
Only a handful of players are behind the major failures heading to the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, led by conflicted advice through an SMSF, the Professional Planner Licensee Summit heard. Despite these issues coming from a small group of individuals, the consequences have been catastrophic.
June 24, 2025
ASIC ‘agnostic’ on offshoring arrangements by licensees
ASIC will maintain a wait-and-see stance on offshoring arrangements by licensees as it carries out a review of how licensees and advisers are managing risk, with findings due later this year, commissioner Alan Kirkland has told the Professional Planner Licensee Summit.
June 23, 2025
