Be good, add value and be available: the secret to ‘guaranteed’ referrals
A benchmarking study of the top practices in the Professional Investment Services (PIS) network will create the foundation of a program to reduce expenses and increase revenue and profit for practices across the network. PIS has worked with the research firm Beddoes Institute to benchmark its top practices against the top practices in the Beddoes
April 14, 2014
AIA Australia launches ‘Datafeeds’ for XPLAN
Life insurer AIA Australia has announced a new risk ‘Datafeeds’ for XPLAN to help financial advisers cope with the administrative burden of managing life insurance policies. In response to an overwhelming demand from advisers, those who use XPLAN can now automatically receive a daily risk ‘Datafeeds’ containing application and policy information from AIA Australia. The
April 14, 2014
Leading consultants reveal the secrets to practices made perfect
Professional Planner and MLC brought together some of the industry’s leading consultants to identify the steps that all financial planning business owners can take right now to create businesses that will thrive and prosper regardless of the regulatory and industry challenges they may be facing. PARTICIPANTS: Rod Bertino, principal, Business Health; Andrew Inwood, principal, CoreData Market Research; Tony McDonald, co-founder and
April 14, 2014
Professional Planner in Shanghai.
What could possibly go wrong?
The 2014 Shanghai Professional Investment Services Conference kicked off on Monday, as more than 180 PIS planners, accountants and support staff gathered in Shanghai, a city with a population roughly equal to the whole of Australia. PIS’s 18th annual conference spans five days and is focused on helping advisers improve business performance and deliver high-quality
April 14, 2014
ASIC, Commonwealth Financial Planning under scrutiny at Senate inquiry
The extent and speed of the Australian Security and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) investigation into Commonwealth Financial Planning (CFPL) was questioned yesterday during the Senate Economic Reference Committee’s inquiry into the regulator. “How deep did they probe?” asked committee member Senator David Fawcett, in relation to the regulator’s investigation into forgery and fraud allegations directed at
April 11, 2014
General advice an important link in the financial planning chain: NAB
General advice provides an important entry point for Australians who can’t necessarily afford personal financial advice, according to John Flavell, executive general manager of wealth advice for National Australia Bank. Asked about his views on the payment of commissions for general advice, Flavell says that “in terms of how we reward our people…part of the
April 11, 2014
Financial planners harness the tools of the trade
Investment tools that were once the domain of institutional fund managers are now readily available to financial planners, giving them the opportunity to be more involved in the investment process. Tim Bradbury explains. One of the recent (and common) themes in the investment marketplace revolves around the perceived uncertainty of market directions – globally and
April 11, 2014
Managed account provider set to list on ASX
Managed Accounts Holdings Limited, which owns managed discretionary account specialist, managedaccounts.com.au, has successfully registered its prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for an IPO to list on the Australian Securities Exchange. The IPO is expected to raise between $2 million and $5 million based on an offer of up to 25 million shares at a
April 10, 2014
Faster net speed boosts efficiency of financial service businesses
Australians are accessing the internet at higher speeds, helping to improve the efficiency of online financial services businesses, according to FinaMetrica, an Australian business that has won a high profile international award for its online solution which assesses the risk tolerance of investors. Data released this week from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveal
April 10, 2014
Another record high for ETF industry as investors get defensive
The Australian exchange traded fund (ETF) market continued to break new ground in March, reaching a record high of $10.5 billion in funds under management, according to the BetaShares Australian ETF Review. Approximately $200 million of new money flowed into exchange traded products in March, with inflows coming almost exclusively from new money rather than
April 10, 2014
Financial planners’ unpaid FOS penalties exceed $7.6 million
Financial service providers (FSPs) that have been subject to an adverse finding by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) since January 2010 have outstanding compensation payments of more than $8.3 million, with clients facing an uphill battle to be paid what they are owed. Financial services providers (FSPs) whose primary business is financial advice owe wronged
April 09, 2014
