A giant awakes: Inside ANZ’s SMSF push
A partnership with SuperIQ underpins a broad strategy by ANZ to develop a comprehensive self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) service. A second step involves working with groups such as the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) to train financial planners to establish SMSFs for clients. The bank’s SMSF strategy involved ANZ selling its wholly-owned accounting, tax
January 21, 2014
Tough time ahead for recruiting good financial planning staff
Financial planning remains a “candidate-short” market and the next six months at least will see fierce competition between firms to hire the best staff, according to a leading recruitment agency. Nick Murphy, regional director for recruitment firm Hays, says financial planning businesses need to “start thinking outside the box” when looking for staff and not
January 21, 2014
Super delivers best return in 20 years
2013 was an outstanding year for super funds, and especially those oriented to Australian and international shares. Resurgent share markets saw the median growth fund (61 to 80% invested in growth assets) return 17.5%, the best performance in the past 20 years and the second highest since the introduction of compulsory super in 1992. The
January 21, 2014
Dawning of a new Epoch: $1 billion FUM from retail and SMSF demand
The Grant Samuel Epoch Global Equity Shareholder Yield funds have surpassed the $1 billion mark in assets under management, more than doubling in size over the past 12 months, says Mr Andrew McKinnon, chief executive officer of Grant Samuel Funds Management. The funds are managed by New York-based equity manager, Epoch Investment Partners, having been
January 21, 2014
Smarter Money outperforms competitors over all periods in 2013
Morningstar data shows that YBR Funds Management’s Smarter Money fund, which is offered by Yellow Brick Road, significantly outperformed competing cash and bond funds over the past 3, 6 and 12 months as at 31 December 2013. Smarter Money is a fund with an “active cash” strategy that invests in Australian deposits and “investment grade”
January 20, 2014
Building a financial planning profession: renovate, or start again?
If the financial planning industry were a house and you were considering renovating and improving it, would you work with the foundation already in place or would you consider it a ‘knock down rebuild’? Since the government’s December 20 decision to significantly reduce the extent of last year’s Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation, there
January 17, 2014
Professionalism first, daylight second. Who is in this race?
In the current debate about the public image of financial planning, there’s a clear opportunity for planners who adhere to a code of professional conduct to put daylight between themselves and those who don’t. The benefit that an individual enjoys if they are perceived to genuinely be a professional is sometimes referred to as the
January 17, 2014
Gupta’s grand plans
Peeyush Gupta wants to forge strategic referral relationships with industry and corporate super funds, hire more advisers, open new offices, and see it lead the debate on post-retirement in Australia. The group has also commenced a research project on managing longevity risk. According to Gupta, the high and rising cost of providing ongoing personal advice
January 17, 2014
A safe job doesn’t change the need for adequate insurance
Any job has risks and a client needn’t have one of the most dangerous jobs in Australia to require adequate protection to safeguard them against the unexpected. Findings from the Actuaries Institute show that one in three working Australians are likely to become disabled and unable to work for up to three months before turning 65.
January 17, 2014
Investor flows for hedge funds down in December but up for 2013
The latest eVestment Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report covers trends in the hedge fund world for the month of December and all of 2013. A few highlights are below. 1) Investors illustrated their disapproval of macro funds’ 2013 performance with their largest monthly redemptions since December 2008. 2) Macro and managed futures fund redemptions were the
January 17, 2014
Kardinia expands team with new appointment
Kardinia Capital has appointed Peter Lucas to the role of Investment Analyst, expanding its investment team – headed up by Portfolio Managers Mark Burgess and Kristiaan Rehder – to three. Peter joined the team on 6 January. Previously, Peter was Executive Director – Head of Melbourne Institutional Sales with Nomura Australia, where he played a
January 17, 2014
Helmich elevated, Waddell out in AMP reshuffle
Financial planning industry stalwart Steve Helmich has been promoted to executive director of financial planning at AMP in a management reshuffle that will see Andrew Waddell leave the company. Waddell, who was director of advice – strategy and development, will leave AMP on a date to be announced. The restructuring simplifies the top-level management of
January 16, 2014
