Licensees urged to have ASIC register information verified
At the end of March the first phase of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s financial advisers register (FAR) will go public. Between now and then, every Australian financial services licensee must ensure they have provided details about their advisers’ past employment details. By the end of May, when phase two of the FAR goes
March 02, 2015
Costello, Murray at odds over borrowing inside super
The former treasurer, Peter Costello, says the Financial System Inquiry’s (FSI) proposed banning of lending inside self-managed super funds is unnecessary. “People who go into SMSFs are people who know business…taking on some debt is not unusual for these people. They by and large are people who’ve put together a few assets and are by
March 02, 2015
Why effective retirement advice is about probabilities, not forecasts
Managing risks and dealing with uncertainty for clients in retirement puts the onus on planners to present clients with probabilities and options, not straight-line return forecasts. Consultant Paul Maddock, who has previously worked with MLC, BT and SFG, says the planning process should start with a detailed discussion between the planner and the adviser on
March 02, 2015
Zurich’s latest product update boosts affordability
Zurich has maintained its longstanding commitment to twice-yearly risk product enhancements with the announcement of its forthcoming March 1st update. The update will reinforce Zurich’s growing platform presence with a number of improvements to its superannuation-based policies. Headlining the enhancements is the confirmation of a first year 15 percent discount on premiums funded via rollover,
February 27, 2015
OneVue delivers positive EBDITA for first-half and record FUA
OneVue has delivered its first positive period of EBITDA for the half year ending 31 December 2014. The result was delivered in line with OneVue’s prospectus forecast. In the same period, Funds Under Administration (FUA) in Platform Services rose 45% from $1.94b to $2.82b due to net funds flow and the Select acquisition. Funds Under Management (FUM)
February 27, 2015
Bashford contemplates life after AMP and says the Futuro is bright
Two years short of a planned five-year engagement with the financial service giant AMP, Futuro Financial Services is now looking forward instead to life as a newly single licensee. AMP acquired 10 per cent of Futuro in 2012, and initially intended to move to 100 per cent ownership by 2017. Yesterday Futuro announced that for
February 27, 2015
IN FOCUS: Direct fix for bond investors
The rising life expectancy of Australians and the rapid growth in self-managed super funds (SMSFs) are fuelling a resurgent interest in fixed-income investment for financial planners and their clients. As a key defensive asset class, bonds are particularly important for investors requiring a reliable income stream and stable growth. “They’re looking at the risk of
February 27, 2015
HUB24 partners with GPS Wealth for new white label
Independently owned national licensee GPS Wealth has selected HUB24 (ASX: HUB) to provide a new managed account offering for its member firms. The initiative will see HUB24’s award winning technology deployed in a fully customised and branded manner and will be centred on GPS Wealth’s innovative investment portfolios. With total funds under advice well in
February 26, 2015
Exposure to Australia’s lucrative residential property market through BrickX
A new online real estate investment platform, BrickX, has been launched to disrupt Australia’s residential property market by enabling wholesale investors* to acquire an economic interest in individual properties by trading ‘Bricks’ (interests in trusts that hold individual properties) for as little as $66 per Brick. “The platform provides wholesale investors* the ability to acquire
February 26, 2015
Magellan pioneers new class of exchange traded managed funds (ETFMs)
– New fund offers investors access to Magellan’s global equities expertise in an ASX-quoted format – Creates a simple solution to help SMSF and retail investors diversify their portfolios – ETMFs set to become fastest growing segment of funds management industry Magellan Financial Group Limited (‘Magellan’), the international investment management company, announced today that it
February 25, 2015
IOOF to review models and APLs as Drennan unites research teams
One of the first tasks facing Matt Drennan, appointed last week as group head of research and portfolio construction for IOOF, is uniting two research teams that have come together following the acquisition of SFG Australia by IOOF in May last year. “It brings together two key responsibilities,” Drennan says. “One is the research team
February 25, 2015
Time to act before the benefit of the doubt is gone forever
A lot has been said about the “benefit of the doubt” recently. As the scandal engulfing National Australia Bank develops, any doubt about the need for deep, fundamental change in the financial planning industry is fast evaporating. In the wake of revelations of similar issues at Commonwealth Bank, NAB’s issues merely seem inevitable. It’s almost
February 25, 2015
