Further regulation of life industry ahead: Asteron
If the life insurance industry doesn’t voluntarily change the way products are designed and financial advisers are remunerated then it’s only a matter of time before the regulators push for a ban on insurance commissions again, warns Asteron Life executive general manager Jordan Hawke. “The upfront commission model is under stress and the industry needs
November 14, 2013
New direct investor platform to shake up market
Financial advisers and accountants will be able to service, and transact for, members of AustralianSuper, HOSTPLUS and Telstra Super, with enhancements made to the UBS Direct to Member platform. UBS Platform Solutions Group, the securities trading and investment administration arm of investment bank UBS, developed the platform to provide super fund members with greater investment
November 14, 2013
Montgomery hires new head of distribution
Montgomery Investment Management, the Australian equities boutique set up by funds manager Roger Montgomery and backed by Magellan Financial Group, has hired former BlackRock head of retail Scott Phillips as head of distribution. Phillips, who left BlackRock in June, will work closely with chief executive and portfolio manager, David Buckland. Montgomery Investment Management was established
November 14, 2013
MLC slashes fees by almost 1 per cent
Rising long-term bond yields and improved investor sentiment has lead NAB Wealth & MLC to lower the fees on its retirement solution MLC MasterKey Investment Protection by up to 0.9 per cent. The product, which offers both protected capital and protected income, was designed for people over the age of 50 with accumulated savings of
November 14, 2013
Fixing FoFA without adding complexity
Assistant Treasurer Arthur Sinodinos is set to follow through on the Coalition Government’s pre-election promise to fix elements of the Future of Financial Advice reforms. On the top of Sinodinos’s list is the removal of the opt-in requirement and modifications to how the ban on commissions applies to insurance. The Treasurer has also signalled that
November 14, 2013
Using social media to promote your business
Businesses are increasingly connecting with customers via social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. An online advertisement, which could be a tweet or a Facebook page, may be a consumers’ first point of contact with a business. It may then continue to being a source of information. The challenge for financial advisers, from a
November 12, 2013
Sinodinos mulls advisers’ Christmas wish list
Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister Arthur Sinodinos will review the Association of Independently-Owned Financial Professionals’ Christmas wish list, which was presented to him at the first meeting of the group’s Consultative Committee early this month. The committee, which is chaired by AIOFP director Peter Johnston, met with Sinodinos at the AIOFP national conference in
November 12, 2013
Pharos in acquisition mode
Private equity firm, Pharos Financial Group is in negotiations to buy two additional Queensland-based financial planning practices, under its Advance Equity Partners program. Since the launch of the Advance Equity Partners program in 2011, Pharos Financial Group has acquired interests, ranging between 35 and 100 per cent, in seven financial planning and accounting practices. Four
November 12, 2013
Sydney adviser banned for life
Former senior client adviser at Bell Potter Securities Glenn Russell Evans has been banned from providing financial services for life by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, after he was jailed for defrauding self-managed superannuation funds of more than $1.6 million. In May, Evans, who is 44 years old and from Leichhardt in Sydney, was
November 12, 2013
New corporate super fund hits the market
The $27 billion industry superannuation fund REST has become the first industry fund to launch a MySuper product for the corporate sector. REST Corporate is an employer-sponsored MySuper offering with salary-based insurance, designed to make compliance with the government’s Stronger Super regulations simple for employers. REST chief executive Damian Hill said the MySuper rules had
November 12, 2013
Market update on ASIC’s CP 216
Industry stakeholders and consumers have voiced their overall support for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Consultation Paper 216, which sets out additional disclosure requirements on advisers to self-managed superannuation funds. In two separate stakeholder roundtables held by the regulator in October, many participants indicated that they already complied with the new rules being proposed,
November 08, 2013
Zurich in search to replace Fabris
Zurich Financial Services Australia has won a place on eight new approved product lists in the last 12 months, including AMP Financial Planning, Matrix Planning Solutions, Mercer, Aon Hewitt Financial Advice and Suncorp Life’s Guardian Advice. The group, which will soon begin a search to replace manager of sales strategies and research Marc Fabris, was also
November 08, 2013
