Adviser banned: PIS blames “legacy issues”
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a former Professional Investment Services (PIS) authorised representative for three years.
October 30, 2012
Coalition reveals plan to scrap key FoFA reforms
The federal coalition has already drafted legislation that it will introduce to repeal elements of the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms if it is elected to government at the next election. Ciobo, who stood in yesterday for Mathias Cormann, the assistant treasurer and shadow minister for financial services and superannuation, said that “in our judgement, FoFA has failed to strike the right balance between appropriate levels of consumer protection and the need to ensure the ongoing availability, accessibility and affordability of high-quality financial advice”.
October 29, 2012
Wild West: Shady advice threat to SMSF trend
The self-managed super funds industry is in danger of becoming a lawless frontier if rogue advisers and opportunist marketers are allowed to continue touting for business. Hasib wants the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to make educational and assessment requirements for SMSF advisers a priority, but accepts that the regulator is presently stretched as it consults on several aspects of the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms.
October 25, 2012
Cherry on top: The case for scaled advice
Scaled advice is in many ways what both advisers and their clients have been calling out for since the introduction of the Financial Services Reform Act. Scaled advice does not replace comprehensive advice, and nor is it panacea to be used in all occasions C and D clients:
October 18, 2012
Mortgage Choice plans to blaze franchise trail
Mortgage Choice has opened the first of 10 financial planning businesses it plans to trial over the next six months with a view to having 60 planners operating across Australia in three years' time. Mortgage Choice Financial Planning will operate as a separate franchised business to the existing mortgage broking business, although it will initially leverage heavily off the broking side of the business.
October 16, 2012
Divorce model reveals the costs of delay
Divorce proceedings can be financially devastating for the parties involved but a new financial-advice modelling tool claims it is possible to cut months off the length of a typical settlement process.
October 16, 2012
Accountants trickle into planning before 2016 flood
As many as 1000 accountants will transition from advising on self-managed super funds to offering a full financial planning service by 2016. While Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation Bill Shorten expects to see up to 10,000 accountants become licensed under the recently introduced limited Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), which will replace the accountant’s exemption from next year, questions remain over which business models will best manage the new environment.
October 15, 2012
IFAs urged to reconsider value proposition
Quality of advice alone does not offer IFAs a “compelling differentiator” from larger groups and rejecting managed funds is the first step to true independence. A compelling differentiator Rethinking managed funds
October 11, 2012
Schroder is Fund Manager of the Year
Schroder Investment Management has been named the Fund Manager of the Year, in the Professional Planner/Zenith Fund Awards 2012. Fund Manager of the Year Schroders Bennelong Funds Management, Grant Samuel Funds Management Celeste Funds Management
October 05, 2012
ASIC targets substance in guidance
The regulator’s guidance document on conflicted remuneration goes well beyond industry expectation and allows “very little wiggle room.” In deciding whether a benefit is conflicted remuneration, we propose to focus on the substance of a benefit over its form, and consider the overall circumstances in which the benefit is given. The guidance states:
October 02, 2012
October 2012:
Digital content
A guide to the Professional Planner September 2012 edition and links to authors and additional content.
October 01, 2012
Clawbacks threat to revenue, valuations
Risk advisers fear the value of their businesses will fall if proposed anti-churn measures are introduced, as speculation intensifies around the real motivation for commission clawbacks. Mergers and acquisitions corporate advisory firm, Radar Results, says feedback from risk advisers suggests the proposed anti-churn measures are both unnecessary and likely to reduce the value of their business.
September 20, 2012
