Fintech looks to add 50 advisers in three years with private advisory launch
Wealth management fintech Openmarkets has revealed plans to expand into private wealth with the goal of adding 50 financial advisers to its AFSL in the next three years as it pivots to a B2B model in the aftermath of regulatory action that has been settled with ASIC.
May 05, 2026
Related-party responsible entities under scrutiny by upstart association
A new association will aim to bring in an industry-wide best practice code to lift governance standards of managed investment schemes, including ending related-party responsible entities. The Wholesale Investor Advocacy Australia group will be led by the head of an AFSL responsible manager group and a former Coalition financial services adviser who felt aggrieved by insufficient governance standards across the industry.
May 04, 2026
Why CGT changes won’t shift investor behaviour
The current debate about reducing the 50 per cent CGT discount assumes property investors are primarily motivated by tax savings. Financial adviser Sheshan Wickramage writes the assumption overlooks how real-world investment decisions are made, particularly among high-net-worth investors.
May 04, 2026
First Guardian liquidation continues to eat up recovered funds
First Guardian liquidators want to “temper expectations” over the return of funds to investors as the cost of the liquidation continues to grow with the amount recovered, leaving estimated net cash of $326,000 after expenses.
May 01, 2026
Sequoia scuttles InterPrac sale over complexity and uncertainty
Sequoia Financial Group has scrapped plans for the controversial sale of InterPrac Financial Planning to Conquest Investment Partners after both parties failed to satisfy all conditions necessary to complete the transaction.
May 01, 2026
JANA gets new CIO as Frontier plots OCIO land grab
Former Morningstar Investment Management APAC chief investment officer Matt Wacher will join JANA as its new CIO as rival asset consultant Frontier Advisors prepares to bring its own outsourced CIO solution, powered by the former State Super investment team, to market.
April 30, 2026
When private credit becomes the headline, but not the signal
Framing retail access of private credit as “misuse” risks oversimplifying what is, in reality, a broader structural shift underway across markets, writes Portfolio Construction Forum’s Nick Shoenmaker. Private markets are no longer accessed as standalone exposures and are integrated into portfolios through multi-asset managed account structures.
April 29, 2026
Solving the $326bn ‘stranded’ pension asset problem
More than 1.5 million Australians aged 65 and over are sitting in accumulation phase, paying tax they don’t need to pay. The Actuaries Institute has a plan to fix that, and it doesn’t ask funds to do anything the government and regulators aren’t already pushing them to do.
April 29, 2026
Managed accounts experts urge ASIC to proceed with caution on crackdown
ASIC should be cautious about pushing back too hard on managed accounts as the alternative would be advisers playing portfolio manager, the latest episode of the Professional Planner Managed Accounts Decoded podcast heard.
April 28, 2026
People are already using AI for financial advice, so let’s make it safe
Financial advice is now the second most common use of AI, yet most of it remains unlicensed, unregulated, and often wrong. Otivo’s Paul Feeney writes the challenge for our industry is clear: how do we put the right guardrails in place?
April 28, 2026
It’s the conflicts of interest, stupid! The uncomfortable truth about reform
The industry’s longstanding failure to deal with conflicts of interest is the main reason why governments will talk about removing ineffective regulation, but rarely follow through, writes Robert MC Brown.
April 24, 2026
