Consumer trust isn’t something to be taken for granted, but reports from the UK, US and here at home are all pointing towards an uplift in trust levels around financial advice, which can only be a welcome development.
There are significant tailwinds behind the financial advice industry at the moment, but some major obstacles are still preventing advice practices from taking advantage of surging demand according to a new study from CFS.
Former Dixon Advisory clients encouraged to register with AFCA
The corporate regulator, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), is encouraging former Dixon Advisory clients to lodge a complaint with the financial ombudsman, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) as soon as possible so that they’re eligible for compensation under a potential future Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR).
Former clients that believe they have suffered losses because of allegedly conflicted advice by Dixon Advisory need to take action now, otherwise they run the risk of missing out.
In a statement on its website, the regulator said, “ASIC will soon be writing to former clients of Dixon Advisory to inform them that if they believe they have suffered loss as a result of the misconduct of Dixon Advisory and/or their former Dixon Advisory financial adviser in providing financial advice, they should make a complaint to AFCA. As complaints may only be made against firms that are members of AFCA, complaints against Dixon Advisory should be made as soon as possible. If Dixon Advisory’s AFCA membership ceases, then no further complaints can be accepted. We encourage former clients of Dixon Advisory to monitor their mailboxes, inboxes, and spam folder for correspondence from ASIC.”
The CSLR was established after the Banking Royal Commission to pay compensation to those people who had suffered financial losses because of misconduct where the financial institution involved had become insolvent. The scheme remains unlegislated, but is expected to be finalised in the coming year.
Dixon Advisory merged with Evans & Partners in 2017 and then floated the merged entity on the ASX a year later, called Evans Dixon Limited. Issues began after the merger deal. The Australian Financial Review led an investigation that found former and current Dixon clients had lost large sums of money in savings due to bad and conflicted financial advice given to them about investing in the listed US Residential Masters Property Fund (URF). Dixon clients were over-exposed to a fund that was over-geared and charging excessive fees. In the end, that fund proved the undoing of Dixon Advisory. The fund performed poorly and was subject to a takeover that failed to materialise. The wealth manager was fined $7.2 million for its dud investment.
Dixon Advisory entered voluntary administration on 19 January 2022. ASIC suspended its AFSL licence afterwards.
