Legislation

Uncertainty has returned to the market after a bumper 2020, fuelled by persistent inflation and a pandemic that never really went away. But in its latest alternatives outlook, JPMorgan warns that investors “aren’t seeing the forest for the trees.” “Up close, the ‘trees’ in the 2022 outlook are clear,” writes Anton Pil, global head of…

Morningstar has released its “top-performing global equity fund managers in 2021” report. This year, the funds that performed the best contained a well-disciplined approach to investing, together with an experienced team capable of producing high-performance numbers. The research report found that the top three global fund managers also had outstanding longer-term performance numbers. What this…

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…

China is far and away the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter, accounting for close to 30% of global carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) – double the 15% for the US and 9% for the European Union. Robeco’s Jie Lu has released a detailed research report which takes a thorough look at…

From being a ‘crypto critic’, Australia has quickly transformed itself to soon be a ‘crypto leader’ by proposing a framework for managing cryptocurrencies and crypto companies, in the biggest shakeup in the country’s payment systems in 25 years. Covid-19 showed us how quickly society digitised its payments systems with the onset of Afterpay and its…

“An Albanese Labor government will properly recognise your experience,” were the words of Labor spokesman Stephen Jones this week when presenting at the Independently Owned Financial Advisers in Australia (AIOFP) conference. The AIOFP has been among the staunchest critics of the massive increase in compliance and regulatory requirements being placed onto the sector, so it…

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…

“Undue complexity”. “Byzantine complexity”. “Elephantine proportions”. These are just a few of the superlatives used to describe one of Australia’s most important pieces of legislation, the Corporations Act 2001. The legislation turned 20 years old this year and whilst it has played an important role in simplifying the financial services landscape, few would disagree with…

The soon-to-be-disbanded Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) is finishing its reign with a flurry, announcing a review of the much-derided conflicts of interest Standard 3 of the recently enshrined law. Financial advisers and legal experts have raised concerns about the structure of the ethical standards sincetheir inception. In fact FASEA had received 37…

The recently passed Better Advice Act is still being filtered through both the regulator and the industry in general, but more specifics are quickly becoming available. There were three key changes as part of the new legislation, which included ASIC taking over as the Single Disciplinary Body from 1 January 2022. The Financial Services and…

After an incredibly busy few months for the financial advice industry, the regulatory structure and single disciplinary body is beginning to take shape. The passing of the Better Advice Bill finally disbanded the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA), passing the torch to ASIC’s Financial Services and Credit Panel. The FSCP will be tasked…