Advice

Global consulting firm McKinsey recently posed the question “have you ever asked why it is so difficult to get things done in business today – despite seemingly endless meetings and emails?” Apparently Zoom fatigue is a real thing and despite more time being ‘present’ with colleagues, productivity is leaving a lot to be desired. A…

The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, or CSLR, has become something of a lightning rod for the finance industry in 2022; and yet we are less than a month into the year. While almost every impacted party agrees on the importance of the new scheme, few can agree on who should pay for it, and…

Financial professionals are the critical link between the clients’ world and the vast financial system. What often distinguishes financial advisers during troubled times is the ability to communicate between these two worlds effectively. Invesco Global Consulting’s mission is to help financial professionals do exactly that. As we speak to financial professionals during times of market…

Perennial Partners’ sustainable small cap equities fund, the Perennial Better Future Trust, was up 2.4% net of fees in December, beating the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index’s return of 1.4%. The trust has been in operation for almost four years, since inception in February 2018, and has grown to exceed $100 million in assets. The…

HUB24 (ASX:HUB) – Shares in the leading wealth management platform are rallying on the back of record second-quarter net inflows of $3.6 billion. This includes $349 million moved to the new Rhythm Super product, a private-label wealth management platform owned by Insignia Financial (ASX: IFL), the former IOOF. The strong quarter means the group is…

On Wednesday, Dixon Advisory & Superannuation Services, the division of ASX-listed E&P Financial Group (ASX:EP1) that was focused on delivering financial advice to high-net-worth clients for several decades, filed for voluntary administration. This marks the beginning of the end for what initially appeared to be an Australian success story.  According to the ASX announcement, administrators…

Dissatisfied with the way in which financial advisers are being treated, the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) has taken a stand, launching a political movement to voice their concerns. The body says, “the current Coalition government have unfairly targeted financial advisers for their own political purposes. Consumers have become collateral damage by either…

Dwindling financial adviser numbers have dropped below the 20,000 mark, hitting a five-year low.  And although it’s been a difficult few year for some wealth managers, others have evolved during the pandemic, finding themselves head and shoulders above the rest. Sequoia Financial Group (ASX: SEQ) is one of these, having recently acquired Topdocs Legal, a…

Thanks in part to the pandemic, employers now have sufficient awareness of mental health problems in the workforce, their human and economic costs. Now is the time for programs to solve them. A multi-country, multi-industry webinar last week (December 9) looked at how employers should learn from the impact of Covid-19 and put in place…

These days, becoming a financial adviser is no easy feat. Following the banking and financial services Royal Commission, the bar was raised, with higher education and professional standards put in place to lift the education, training and ethical standards of financial advisers. Financial advisers must be licensed (hold an AFSL) and new advisers must have…

As the FASEA exam deadline of 1 January 2022 nears, the significant impacts on the financial advice industry continue to garner headlines. According to reports, total adviser numbers have now fallen to below 19,000 with many more set to leave in 2022. Similarly, statistics suggest there are as many as 2 million unadvised clients in…

One of the more unique offerings in the active global equity sector is the Insync Global Quality Equity Fund, run by the fund manager of the same name. Established in October 2009 as the Insync Global Titans Fund – its name was changed in July 2018 – the fund is a high-conviction, active manager that…