Industry Updates

Golden age of emerging markets gone

One of the more enjoyable parts of my job is going out on the road talking to customers about the markets. Their questions always provide a good insight into where they are investing, what they are excited about and what worries them. Conversations invariably turn to emerging market equities at some point, so I generally

Weighing up super choices

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) recently issued a consultation paper suggesting additional disclosures that might be appropriate for advisers who recommend clients set-up self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs). Several of these disclosures make sense and in fact, in our view, should already be part of a discussion with the client at the establishment phase.

FPA Professional Congress – Photo gallery

With 1200 delegates, 97 per cent of whom are practicing financial planners, and more than 60 international visitors, the inaugural FPA Professionals Congress marks the beginning of a new era of financial planning in Australia.

FPA Professional Congress in the premier league

Professional Planner, official media partner of the inaugural Financial Planning Association Professionals Congress, brings you all the key moments from this watershed event for the Australian financial planning profession, covering technical, best practice, personal development and leadership issues. Read the Professional Planner Daily News from days one and two by clicking on the links below. DAILY

Count down for APES

Count has vowed to implement the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board’s APES 230 financial planning services standard by July 1, 2014, as the major accounting bodies continue to fight over the standard’s relevance. The Commonwealth Bank-owned dealer group, which has over 600 authorised representatives, is “progressively implementing” APES 230 across its network of over

FPA to advise Cbus members

The $20-billion construction and building industry superannuation fund, Cbus, has teamed up with the Financial Planning Association to make comprehensive, personal financial advice more accessible to Cbus’ 700,000 members. Under a pilot program launched on Monday, Cbus will provide client referrals to FPA members who meet select professional and location criteria. For example, practitioners must

Australian services set to ignite

Asian demand for Australia’s wealth management, distribution and financial planning expertise is set to “ignite”, according to a new report that lists wealth management as one of five growth industries worth an extra $250 billion to the national economy over the next 20 years. The paper, Positioning for Prosperity? Catching the next wave, is the

A standard of lesser quality?

The Institute of Public Accountants’ decision to abandon the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board’s new financial planning standard, APES 230, and formally release an alternative for its 24,000 members has sparked a war of words among Australia’s powerful accounting bodies. On Monday, IPA released Pronouncement 11: Financial Planning Services, which was immediately criticised by

Advice: the growth driver for banks

Limited advice will account for 80 per cent of all new statements of advice (SOAs) in the next five years, based on internal chatter in the banks and institutions. According to Wayne Wilson, managing director of Rubik Financial, the banks are preparing to deliver advice en masse, with a general consensus that scaled advice will

Eggern ‘em on the Astute Wheel

A new web-based client engagement platform is helping advice businesses boost productivity by 30 per cent and lift profitability by up to 50 per cent, according to the system’s architect, Hans Egger. Over 300 advisers from 32 licensees have signed up to use Astute Wheel since it was launched by technology provider, Astute Wealth, last

SMSFs: the dos and don’ts

ASIC recently issued a consultation paper outlining additional disclosures that may be appropriate for advisers who recommend a client sets up an SMSF. Several of these make sense and should already be part of a discussion with the client at the establishment phase. However, the current proposals ignore the fact that there is no zero-risk

Australia’s best fund managers named

Perpetual Investments has been named the Fund Manager of the Year in the Professional Planner/Zenith Fund Awards 2013. Perpetual Investments held off Magellan Asset Management and PIMCO to take out the top award, and also took out the Australian Equities Large Cap category. The Fund Distributor of the Year award was won by Macquarie, for

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