Cover story: People power
Clients telling their stories in their own words will be a prominent feature next year, as the financial planning profession addresses persistent misconceptions and promotes the value of advice directly to consumers. Simon Hoyle reports. During 2014, the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) and the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) will separately take their
December 10, 2013
Financial Simplicity launches customer engagement solution
Financial Simplicity, a provider of customer engagement solutions to the wealth management industry, has launched the front-end interface of its “Simplicity” solution suite to meet the growing need of wealth management firms and platforms seeking to improve their customer engagement experiences in order to attract and retain clients. The customer engagement suite is built upon
December 06, 2013
Quiet achiever adds 50, almost doubles revenue
Australian Unity Personal Financial Services, the financial advisory arm of Australian Unity, has plans to grow its network to 100 practices by 2017, and with a strong focus on forging partnerships with accountants. The group, which currently has 63 practices and 117 advisers concentrated in Melbourne and Sydney, had referral partnerships with 242 accounting firms
December 06, 2013
Time to unwind: FPA
Financial planners should relax over the Christmas period, with the Financial Planning Association predicting that 2014 will be an easier year than 2013. FPA chief executive Mark Rantall said the outlook for the financial planning industry was positive with much of the regulatory reforms bedded down and a recent FPA/Galaxy Research survey finding 92 per
December 06, 2013
What’s keeping executives up at night?
Reputational damage is the biggest concern of business executives in financial services and other industries followed by business model, economic trends and competition, according to a global survey by Deloitte. The results of the 2013 Deloitte/Forbes Insights Global Strategic Risk Survey vary significantly from three years ago, when reputational risk was ranked third behind brand
December 06, 2013
Assembling the dream team
Few employers take the time to seriously think about their dream employee and what they need to do to attract that calibre of person. Practice principals are so busy “doing” that they forget to spend time thinking about the key characteristics they want their staff to possess. One common mistake is to focus on qualifications
December 06, 2013
Aon Master Trust recognised for best YTD performance
The Aon Master Trust’s Balanced Growth – Active investment option has been ranked first by two independent research firms based on its one-year return. The option achieved a 19.0% net return, placing it at the top of the charts for both the Chant West survey and the SuperRatings SR50 rankings. In October, the 20.1% net return
December 06, 2013
AMP Flexible Super reaches $10 billion AUM
AMP’s award winning all-in-one super and retirement product, AMP Flexible Super, has notched up over $10 billion in assets under management (AUM), capping off a remarkable period of growth since its launch in 2010. AMP’s Director of Contemporary Wealth Management Patricia Montague said the $10 billion milestone was testament to the products flexible structure which
December 05, 2013
Global ETF and ETP assets reach US$2.4 trillion
The combination of US$17.0 billion in net inflows and positive market performance pushed assets in the global ETF/ETP industry to a new record high of US$2.4 trillion at the end of November, according to preliminary findings from ETFGI’s November 2013 Global ETF and ETP industry insights report. Net inflows into global ETFs/ETPs in November were
December 05, 2013
Asset allocation drives ETF growth
Asset allocation is driving the investment landscape for advisers and sophisticated investors. Rather than debating which Aussie bank to own, the focus is moving to which countries should be invested in and in what asset classes. Continued pressure on the Australian dollar, combined with recovering Asian and European markets, give investors opportunities to gain upside
December 05, 2013
ASIC to reveal shadow shopping report, FPA update
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is on track to release its latest shadow shopping report next year, with the regulator’s mystery shoppers focused on financial advisers who ‘churn’. According to the Financial Planning Association’s general manager of policy and conduct Dante de Gori, who recently met with ASIC and several life companies to discuss
December 05, 2013
NAB Wealth poaches ANZ executive
National Australia Bank has appointed head of ANZ Private Justin Greiner as the new chief executive of its stockbroking and financial advisory firm JBWere, following the departure of Paul Heath in June. Greiner (pictured) will join the bank in February, reporting to NAB Wealth executive general manager of Wealth Advice John Flavell. Greiner, whose previous
December 05, 2013
