Advice

As romantic as it may be to proclaim the emergence of an advice profession and to suggest that a ‘good advice’ duty is a panacea for systemic failures, the retreat of institutional licensees from advice is not necessarily evidence of our capacity for self-regulation.

As a financial adviser, making the right decisions matters. Not just for your client’s investment returns but for your confidence as well.

Specialist self-managed super fund advisers need to tread cautiously before giving a client “wholesale investor” status.

The fact that just 281 complaints were lodged about ‘failure to act in client’s best interests’ and 241 for the providing “inappropriate advice’, shows the legislative changes may well be having a positive impact on the industry. 

As one of the lawyers at the coalface of supporting impacted consumers both before and after the revelations of the Royal Commission, Maurice Blackburn is in a unique position to provide input into the Quality of Advice review.

“Greenwashing” has once again been highlighted as the major challenge for the financial advice industry when it comes to embracing responsible and ethical investment options.

Many studies have shown that the number one-way financial advisers find new clients is by getting referrals from their existing clients, this is true in many other industries as well – it is an age-old way to grow your business.

June 10 was the closing date of what may well become the most important review of the financial advice industry in its short history

The day-to-day life of a financial adviser could soon be a lot easier, after the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) called for an urgent investigation to address “the quagmire that has been created by complex, overlapping and contradictory regulations, codes and rules that now govern the provision of financial advice.”

To be a successful financial adviser, especially during times of peak volatility, it pays to understand and master the human cognitive biases that can often lead to poor decision-making

ASIC has just released an information sheet allowing it to issue warnings and reprimands to financial advisers that do the wrong thing. If you’re a financial adviser, you’ll definitely want to take note of the key messages from the document.  

After five years of compounding compliance and regulatory requirements combined with higher costs in every part of their business there are a number of potentially positive catalysts on the horizon.