Industry Updates

Who are the Best Practice finalists?

The quest to identify Australia’s best financial planning practice has produced a shortlist of finalists that demonstrate how regulatory change and economic uncertainty represent no hurdle to running a great business. The Best Practice Competition 2013, run by Professional Planner and consulting firm Business Health, and supported by MLC Advice Partnerships, attracted more than 200

July 30, 2013

Buzz in recruitment but legacy books face sting

Licensees are reporting vastly different recruitment experiences in the first month of the Future of Financial Advice reforms with some recording high levels of query from advisers looking to switch while others claim it is now harder than ever to move. Last week, Futuro managing director Dennis Bashford said the dealer group was experiencing a

July 29, 2013

Specialist planners benefit from SMSF black hole

Financial planners aligned to accounting firms are winning the battle for self-managed super fund business, but new research has found the SMSF sector has significant unmet advice needs, potentially creating opportunity for specialists. Vanguard and researcher Investment Trends this week released the results of a Self-Managed Super Fund Planner Report based on research conducted in

July 25, 2013

Social media: great in theory, missing in practice

The case for financial planners using social media to both promote their businesses and stay in touch with clients has been overstated, according to one expert who argues that such hype is best left to product pushers. While the use of social media has grown exponentially as many businesses dedicate a vast amount of time

July 23, 2013

Still an equity-friendly environment: Fidelity

While global market uncertainty has picked up in recent weeks, Fidelity’s Dominic Rossi believes we remain in an equity-friendly environment. He argues that it is significant that the recent falls in equity markets were not accompanied by elevated volatility. I have been saying for some time that we need to see a low volatility environment

July 22, 2013

A heart-to-heart client conversation

Advisers who don’t recognise clients’ desire to give are not providing a full service, says Laura O’Rourke.

July 22, 2013

PIS under pressure

Centrepoint Alliance, owner of Professional Investment Services, hopes a new management team will be able to turn around the beleaguered dealer group after the regulator expressed concerns over compliance. An independent expert will monitor the financial advice given by Professional Investment Services (PIS) representatives for the next nine months under standards set out by the

July 18, 2013

ATO zeroes in on SMSF trustees

New tax office requirements mean the need for trustees of self-managed super funds (SMSFs) to get professional advice has never been more important, says the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA). This follows an announcement by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) that it has increased its monitoring of the sector. In its Compliance in Focus

July 18, 2013

Succession planning: easy except for the leaving

A conversation with a friend and veteran financial planner has Matt Fogarty contemplating post-FoFA succession planning but one thing remains the same: exiting a business takes almost as much time, effort and consideration as setting up a business from scratch. “I am happy to sell down my ownership progressively over the next five-to-seven years, but

July 16, 2013

Don’t despair the dipping dollar

For some time, financial markets have enjoyed the support of the world’s major central banks – particularly the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) – in the form of extremely low or zero short-term rates and massive quantitative easing. Even though conditions in the US economy have improved significantly over the past year or so, many

July 16, 2013

Top-performing RI funds challenge low-return myth

While investment returns have strengthened to levels last seen before the global financial crisis, responsible investment funds have surged even higher, according to the 2013 Responsible Investment Benchmark Report. The research found responsible investment funds have outperformed both the benchmark and the average of mainstream funds over short and long terms in both Australian and

July 15, 2013

Liberals reheat FoFA concerns in policy paper

A Liberal government would revisit the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms as part of new policy paper aimed at formalising a wider commitment to cutting costs. The Policy to Boost Productivity and Reduce Regulation paper outlines coalition plans for reducing the regulatory burden on individuals, businesses and community organisations by establishing and meeting a

July 09, 2013