Industry Updates

Social media is a relevant business tool

Over a third of financial advisers use social media to communicate with clients, with social networking site LinkedIn emerging as the preferred platform for sharing business information, according to new research by Zurich Financial Services Australia. The survey, which was conducted by Beaton Research and had more than 200 randomly selected advisers respond, also found

November 05, 2013

PM Capital lists investment vehicle

Boutique global equity manager PM Capital has ambitious plans to raise up to $200 million for the initial public offering (IPO) of its new listed investment vehicle. The prospectus for the PM Capital Global Opportunities Fund was lodged with the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday, with a proposed listing date of December 12. The offer

November 05, 2013

SSFS seeks referral deals for advice

State Super Financial Services, the advice business owned by SAS Trustee Corporation, will create formal referral arrangements with industry superannuation funds and other institutions to provide ongoing personal advice to more Australians. Peeyush Gupta, SSFS chair, said the group is actively seeking to partner with superannuation funds in a similar way to the recent deal

November 01, 2013

Write well to articulate value and fees

Financial planners who find themselves in trouble with clients and the law typically can’t write properly and don’t have a formal client engagement process, which inevitably means they’re unclear about the services they provide and how much they charge, according to Claire Wivell Plater, managing director of The Fold. She said many advisers spent too

November 01, 2013

Total recall: the data necessity

The absence of efficient client relationship management (CRM) systems and processes will dramatically lower the value of a business. Brokers who are asked to value a financial planning or accounting practice will typically discount the sale value if the principals don’t have accurate client records sitting on a modern CRM platform. Most buyers understand that

November 01, 2013

Commitment and skills for super

People often talk about self-managed super funds (SMSFs) being time-consuming or requiring particular skills. Whether or not this is true depends on how much of the work trustees intend to do themselves. Pretty much anything can be outsourced, but of course each time you pay someone else to do something for you, the costs increase.

November 01, 2013

In Focus: taper time for mining sector

Global investors have been fretting about the impact of a possible US Federal Reserve tapering. But a new report from PIMCO warns that Australian investors should be factoring in the fallout from another form of tapering: the tapering of mining investment in Australia. Full In Focus feature, Taper time for mining sector, available here. In a

November 01, 2013

ASIC blows whistle on standards

Employees are dobbing in their employers for misconduct at a record pace, invigorated by the outcomes of the Commonwealth Financial Planning scandal, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. In the regulator’s third submission to the Senate Economics Committee’s inquiry into its own performance, ASIC said it received 845 reports of misconduct from current

October 31, 2013

Nearly a century of new AFSLs

Almost 100 new Australian Financial Services licences were issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in the year to June 30, 2013, with the total number of AFSLs authorised to provide personal advice rising to 3394. The regulator’s 2013 annual report showed 97 new licences were issued, six licences were cancelled for failure to

October 31, 2013

FPA seeds research grants

The Financial Planning Association will provide seed money to fund a number of research grants to university academics as part of efforts to deepen its relationship with the higher education sector. The Financial Planning Education Council, in conjunction with the Financial Planning Association, will award the first round of grants in March 2014. The size

October 31, 2013

NAB Wealth, MLC cash earnings drop 5%

National Australia Bank’s wealth arm, NAB Wealth and MLC, has recorded a 5 per cent drop in cash earnings to $493 million for the full year to September 30, 2013, as deteriorating lapse rates and claims experience continue to ravage the broader wealth industry. NAB chief executive, Cameron Clyne, said an increase in earnings from

October 31, 2013

Global investor confidence slumps

Investor confidence slumped in October, pushed down by extremely negative sentiment in North America, according to State Street Global Exchange. The State Street Investor Confidence Index fell 5.6 points to 95.7 points in October, despite a surge of confidence in Europe. Asian investors stayed their courses, recording only a modest increase in positive sentiment. State

October 31, 2013