Fox on the FoFA amendments: attitude, not legislation, determines professionalism
With the ongoing noise about the future of car manufacturing in Australia, I have more than once considered how this will play out in our unique V8 Supercar racing competition – in particular, the showcase event, The Bathurst 1000. I remember growing up in Perth and getting up at 5.30am to watch the pre-race broadcast
February 13, 2014
Campo on why FoFA changes compromise consumer protection
The raison d’être for this publication is to serve the professional financial planning community. So it is a safe bet that you, the financial planners reading this publication, would consider yourselves to be professionals. If so, you should be extremely alarmed by proposals, advocated by sections of the financial services industry, to dilute the best
February 13, 2014
Rantall on why FoFA changes do not compromise consumer protection
Our support for repealing certain aspects of the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation was made clear on December 20, 2013. In short, we do not share the view that key consumer protections are compromised. Read Robbie Campo’s views on why the FoFA amendments undermine consumer protection Read Brad Fox’s views on the FoFA amendments and
February 11, 2014
Why control freaks struggle but working with accountants is the key to winning SMSF clients
Learning to let go, acting as a true adviser instead of prescribing investments, and working closely with accountants are among the keys to successfully winning and retaining self-managed super fund (SMSF) trustees as clients, according to a leading industry analyst. Recep Peker, a senior analyst with Investment Trends, says financial planning firms that create a
February 11, 2014
How medicine and boredom led to a cost-effective referral system for financial planners
An online referral system has launched that promises to provide cost-effective and qualified leads for financial planners. Nikhil Sreedhar, founder of proadviser.com.au, says the concept for the service came about partly through his family’s medical background, and partly through boredom. Both of Sreedhar’s parents work in medicine and there was a lot of talk about
February 11, 2014
New forum aims to define and promote ‘professional’ advice
A forum to define and promote the ideals of “professional” financial planning has been set up by a cohort of industry consultants. The consultants include Tony McDonald of T&C Consulting, Colin Williams of HFS Marketing, Rachel Staggs of SRS Coaching & Consulting, Bob Neill and David Fotheringham of Seaview consulting, and Cholena Orr of Profusion
February 11, 2014
Global ETF and ETP assets suffer a 3.2 percent decline in January 2014
In January 2014, global ETF/ETP assets fell by 3.2% to US$2.32 trillion based on negative market performance and net outflows of US$7.6 billion, according to preliminary findings from ETFGI’s January 2014 Global ETF and ETP industry insights report. January was a difficult month for emerging and developed equity markets. “Concerns about economic uncertainty and unrest
February 11, 2014
Structural growth continues as the ETF market falls
In a rare occurrence over the last two years, the Australian exchange traded fund (ETF) market contracted during January after a remarkable 20 consecutive months of growth as assets under management dropped slightly to $9.8 billion according to BetaShares’ ETF Review for January. While assets under management decreased, this drop was wholly attributable to negative
February 10, 2014
AMP aims to let the client lead the way
In the shake-up of AMP’s financial planning operations last month, and after almost eight years running AMP Financial Planning (AMPFP), Michael Guggenheimer was also appointed managing director of Hillross Financial Services. The move is aimed at streamlining AMP’s management and Guggenheimer says it won’t affect the day-to-day operations of either AMPFP or Hillross financial planners.
February 07, 2014
Segmentation the key to better advice in retirement
Developing alternative and non-traditional ways of reaching and engaging clients is a key step in providing effective post-retirement advice, the managing director of State Super Financial Services (SSFS), Michael Monaghan. says. Monaghan says it’s important advisers understand that the emotional needs of clients after they retire are often very different from when they’re in the
February 07, 2014
Tax-deductible financial planning fees: An idea whose time has yet to come?
In the space of only a few hours, the Financial Planning Association of Australia flew its brightly coloured kite of tax-deductibility for financial planning fees, and the Assistant Treasurer, Senator Arthur Sinodinos, shot it down. Neither move was surprising, and neither move was unreasonable. But that should not be the end of the issue. Rather,
February 07, 2014
Why M&A activity will keep the market’s spirits up in 2014
Diageo is already the world’s No. 1 spirits company. To stay on top, it must continue to grow and that might be easier said than done if emerging markets remain a challenge. A notable feature of it recent results was a slow-down in the developing world, until recently the hot spot for luxury brands like
February 07, 2014
