Secret shop tests advisers

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's announcement of another shadow shop of financial planners is welcome.

Quick-fix tips to enhancing your return

The financial year is ending but there's still time to improve your tax position, Richard Webb reports.

Financial Planning

Financial planning has become more important than ever for many individuals. M ...

Financial Brokers

Financial brokers specialise in finding and negotiating a range of financial l ...

Consumers back financial advice reform

PLANS under consideration by the federal government to ban commissions for financial planners and require them to act in clients' best interests have been given a thumbs-up in a new survey of consumers.

AMP defends financial planners

AMP chief executive Craig Dunn has defended financial planning as it braces for the release of a major report scrutinising the sector.

Finance advisers mostly a sales force, report says

THE financial advice industry has been dealt a blow with evidence that some of its biggest names €“ AMP, Colonial, and BT €“ are mostly telling clients simply to buy products offered by their parent companies.

Call for commission ban

REGULATORS in the United States and Britain are moving to ban commissions paid to financial planners, in stark contrast to the Australian approach.

Fee-dom fighters: plot thickens against commissions

REGULATORS in Britain and the United States are moving to ban commissions paid to financial planners, while Australia does little by comparison.

A Little Bit Of Knowledge Can Be A Super Asset

Self-managed superannuation funds tend to be run by people who are not as familiar with financial issues as they could be, writes Simon Hoyle.

Financial Planners Given More Time

THE corporate regulator has agreed to give financial planners extra time to give formal written advice to retail investors as people flock to boost their superannuation accounts and meet the June 30 deadline to lock in tax-free benefits.

Canberra Must Do More To Assist Victims Of Dodgy Financial Planners

IT IS quite dismaying that the Government has again wimped out of properly looking after the victims of conflicted and/or incompetent financial advisers.

Financial Planners Would Do Well To Find Their Way Off The Commission Trail

Financial planners need to face up to their reputation, writes Garry Weaven.

Planners Give Up Rebate System

TWO of Australia's largest financial planning groups are dismantling reward systems that previously gave financial planners greater rewards for recommending particular investment decisions.

Financial Planners Get Bonus Pay-offs

FINANCIAL planner Count Financial directly rewards its financial planning franchisees for recommending investment plans that make more money for Count.

Financial Planners Must Submit To Change - Or A Backlash

DEFENDING financial planners is becoming a troublesome business. And trouble is very much in store this week for Chris Kelaher, the managing director of Australian Wealth Management who blithely announced at his results presentation a few days ago that the current backlash against financial planners was "a storm in a tea cup".

Financial Planners Will Have To Pay More Than Lip Service To Westpoint Victims

FINANCIAL planners are starting to offer compensation to victims of the Westpoint collapse as they try to head off legal claims against them, but in some ways the offers raise more issues than they solve.

Most Financial Planners Are Just Glorified Salesmen

LAST Thursday, Assistant Treasurer Peter Dutton launched the Financial Literacy Foundation's new media campaign, "Understanding Money".

Put Planners Out Of Commission

The commission system, which financial planners have done so well out of, is on the nose with consumers. After several reports by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on how the system can leave consumers poorly advised, and ensuing poor publicity, the smarter advisers see the writing is on the wall.

Planners Look To Their Own Financial Future After Treasurer's Super Move

WHILE the immediate response to Peter Costello's proposal to simplify superannuation has been to see it as an assault on financial planners and a nightmare for those caught within the transitional zone between the current system and the new, there has been little discussion of the possible institutional effects of the plan.