Women to swell ranks of big networks
Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corporation are targeting women as part of broader plans to grow their financial planner networks. Westpac’s wealth arm BT Financial Group launched a new recruitment campaign, Stella Network, on Tuesday, announcing an ambitious two-year goal to double the number of females across its advice channels which include Securitor,
October 01, 2013
Matters of dispute
It pays to be proactive and commercial when resolving a dispute. Consider Financial Ombudsman Service dispute 242902. In this case, FOS determined that the financial services provider (FSP) should compensate the applicants a total of $9500 with interest at a rate of 5 per cent compounding annually from January 31, 2009 until the date of
October 01, 2013
Trans-Tasman chartered accountants?
Accountants have until October 25 to vote on a proposal to amalgamate the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, in a merger estimated will deliver $15.8 million in annual net cost savings. ICAA president Tim Gullifer said the cost benefits from a merger would be passed onto members
October 01, 2013
BGL adds web-based deeds to service
Administration software company BGL Corporate Solutions is now extending its self-managed superannuation web-based deed-establishment service to clients of its Simple Fund 360. The service enables users to establish an SMSF and update existing SMSF deeds and supporting documents with help from Melbourne-based law firm, DBA Lawyers. It has been available to clients of BGL’s Portal solution
October 01, 2013
Finding the floor for fees
Industry funds are close to their floor on administration fees, while retail funds still have some room to move, which will give retail players an advantage in the hyper-competitive world of superannuation and wealth management, according to Ben Facer, principal at Deloitte. Facer, who was one of the authors of Deloitte’s sixth biennial report, The
September 27, 2013
Six themes, one global forecast
Asset consultant Towers Watson has developed a new investment index, designed to accurately forecast global growth based on six long-term themes that will fundamentally alter the way economies grow. The Secular Growth Index has been constructed to influence how Towers Watson’s global investment committee determines its economic forecasts and portfolio construction. The committee’s latest thematic
September 27, 2013
Fund Awards brighten dark spell
The second quarter of 2013 was “a tough quarter” for international equity fund managers, after a first quarter in which investors pumped about $1.2 billion of money into the sector. The latest Morningstar fund-flow data shows that in the second quarter of 2013, investors were “happy to leave their hard-earned money invested in overseas markets”,
September 27, 2013
AMP lost in a storm?
AMP is doing deals to lure new financial planning practices and shore-up distribution, but this could lead to more trouble ahead for the wealth management giant, whose share price has been steadily falling. AMP has mounting liabilities, with old and new buyer-of-last-resort agreements in place to acquire financial planning firms from retiring principals in the
September 26, 2013
ICAA gets its gear on
The Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia has waded into the debate about gearing in self-managed superannuation funds, commending the government’s plans to review the sector in light of its $80-billion splurge on property in the last six years. Head of superannuation at ICAA, Liz Westover, acknowledged that borrowing to invest could be a useful way
September 26, 2013
