Tool kit to boost planners’ standards
09 September 2003
In a bid to raise the standard of professionalism and advice in the financial planning industry, the industry’s peak association has released a tool kit covering relationships…
Life Insurance
MLC kicks off the award season
02 September 2003
It’s insurance awards time. NIBA is polling brokers for its annual “General Insurer of the Year” and Warren Tickle awards which will be awarded at next month’s convention…
Industry falls below expectations
19 August 2003
General insurance may be booming, but its life and investment cousins are finding the going tougher…
Fee disclosure model released
12 August 2003
The drive to raise the financial planning sector’s transparency is well under way, with ASIC devising a model for more open fee disclosure and the major trade associations…
Disclosure is a hot ASIC issue
12 August 2003
The ASIC fee disclosure model for Product Disclosure Statements of investment products says “significant fees” should be disclosed so they can be understood by investors…
PI blues hit financial planners
12 August 2003
Rising professional indemnity premiums are impacting fees and forcing some operators out of the market…
Planners to get degrees by 2007
05 August 2003
From the beginning of 2007 members of the Financial Planning Association will have to have a university degree or equivalent to be certified financial planners…
Life insurance sales fall
05 August 2003
Life premiums during the first quarter of the year were down nearly 20% on last year’s figure, according to APRA…
AFA fired up over life insurance
22 July 2003
As we pointed out a few weeks ago, the Australian Consumers Association isn’t always right…
Super assets down $8.9 billion
22 July 2003
The Australian super industry suffered a blow last quarter with assets reaching $507.7 billion – that’s almost $9 billion down on the previous quarter…
AFA: don’t drop accountants
15 July 2003
The Association of Financial Advisers has joined the growing clamour against a Federal Government decision to exempt accountants from aspects…
Australia bucks mutual fund assets trend
15 July 2003
A global decline in mutual funds assets hasn’t been noted in Australia, where they increased by 5.9% to $US377 billion…
IFSA wants private pension reforms
08 July 2003
The Investment and Financial Services Association wants national reforms to boost private pension uptake after its quarterly retirement income stream report…
Financial advisers: compliance doesn’t equal good advice
01 July 2003
The Association of Financial Advisers believes the ASIC/ACA financial planners survey earlier this year focused too much on compliance, and the advice given in the survey…
AMP puts NPI into run-off
24 June 2003
AMP is putting the life insurance operations of its ailing British operation National Provident Institution into run-off, laying off another 900 staff in the process…
Alternative Tower deal in the wings
24 June 2003
Trans-Tasman financial services group Tower is the subject of much attention after key shareholders’ attempts to come up with an alternative capital-raising plan to overthrow…
AMP sets out to sell demerger
17 June 2003
It’s been a tough few weeks for AMP CEO Andrew Mohl, and it’s not going to get any easier in the immediate future as he sets off around the world to try to sell…
PI premiums are ‘causing bad advice’
10 June 2003
Financial planners say the high cost of PI premiums are preventing them from doing their job properly…
Promina, Vero, and now – Asteron
10 June 2003
Promina’s Royal & SunAlliance Financial Services has changed the name of its Australian and NZ operations to Asteron…
Tower in defence mode over GPG deal
10 June 2003
NZ-based financial services group Tower has hit out at a NZ Shareholders Association suggestion that Tower has given Guinness Peat Group “a cheap-ride into a 30% stake”…