Five mega forces impacting investors
In the lead-up to BlackRockâs annual wealth symposium, the groupâs chief investment strategist for APAC, Ben Powell, underscores the five mega forces transforming the global economy. In a highly disrupted and divergent world, these core themes could present strong investment opportunities in the near term.
February 06, 2025
FAAA calls for government to financially support PY advisers
The Financial Advice Association Australia has called on the government to offer $10,000 subsidies to advice practices that take on professional year advisers, as part of its pre-budget submission. Other recommendations include access to an ATO portal for advisers, changing the ASIC levy and introducing âfriend of AFCAâ and âfriend of CSLRâ role.
February 05, 2025
Threeâs a crowd as Brookfield joins Insignia bidding war
Brookfield has been given access to do due diligence for a potential acquisition of Insignia Financial after it presented a bid matching offers from Bain Capital and CC Capital. The offer comes despite Insignia knocking back earlier media rumours of a Brookfield bid.
February 05, 2025
UK pension scheme NEST takes 10pc stake in IFM parent company Industry Super Holdings
UK defined contribution pension scheme NEST will take a 10 per cent ownership stake in IFM parent company Industry Super Holdings and commit to significant ongoing investment in the asset manager.
February 05, 2025
Industry funds cautioned they must lift standards to meet adviser needs
Almost a quarter of members are changing funds when retiring with financial advice being the key driver. The data, presented by CoreData to a room full of the most influential super fund chairs, highlighted the need to better facilitate relationships with external advisers to retain high balance members or lose out completely.
February 04, 2025
Variable fee model set to boost WT revenues by a third
WT Financial Group attributes a 33.5 per cent revenue growth in its indicative 1H25 financial results as validation of its variable fee model which means having quality advisers will mitigate the need to have more advisers under its licensee. But CEO Keith Cullen believes one simple change to the laws could add another 10,000 advisers over the next three years.
February 04, 2025
Federal Court dismisses BUSSQâs application
The Federal Court of Australia has dismissed the judicial review application of industry fund BUSSQ.Â
February 04, 2025
Reflecting on nearly half a century in financial advice
After an extensive 47-year career, Paul Harding-Davis says that while every decade has seen a significant step change that has felt like an âArmageddonâ it has instead only seen the standard of the industry improve. Reflecting on his long career to Professional Planner, he is still evangelical about recruiting young people to advice.
February 03, 2025
Speed is of the essence for DBFO reforms: CALI
Ahead of speaking at the Advice Policy Summit, Council of Australian Life Insurers CEO Christine Cupitt has called on the government to progress âcriticalâ advice legislation as fast as possible, so the industry has certainty over the future of advice.
February 03, 2025
Apt Wealth Partners launches legal services offering
Financial advice firm Apt Wealth Partners has announced the launch of Apt Wealth Legal Services which will integrate legal expertise with wealth management and financial planning to provide comprehensive advice and help clients with holistic solutions.Â
February 03, 2025
$70m CSLR wrecking ball triggers Treasury review
Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones has launched a review of the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort as the FY26 advice levy has obliterated the $20 million subsector cap, with the troubled Dixon Advisory only partly to blame for the immense blow out.
January 31, 2025
Secrecy walls breaking down for greater cooperation between agencies
A consultation floated by Treasury in the dying hours of 2024 raises further questions about where government agencies, such as the Australian Taxation Office and the Tax Practitioners Board, might be able to cooperate so one or more can properly investigate the conduct of an individual or firm, as well asking whether financial advisers should be given access to material held by the ATO.
January 31, 2025
