In the media
David Murray signals push to protect clients of
financial advisers
MEDIA – 21 August 2014 – The "vertically
integrated" banking model, under which banks sell advice to
existing customers, is squarely on the radar of financial system
inquiry chairman David Murray, who has indicated his final report
may call for changes to the way banks remunerate advisers to
restore trust with customers.
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Class action fee ruling key to extra
cases
MEDIA – 21 August 2014 – The Federal Court will today
hear an argument for litigation funders to receive a cut of all
winnings, with Canada's International Litigation Funding
Partners chasing approval for as much as 35% of winnings should a
class action against Allco Finance Group succeed.
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New "dashboard" measures the best way to fund
Australia's economic growth
INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA – 20 August 2014 – The ISA
has released its innovative new "dashboard", which
measures the efficiency of the finance sector in funding
Australia's economic growth by transforming savings into
investment. The dashboard reveals that the finance system's
efficiency in transforming savings into investment has stalled
– or even gone into reverse – over the past 30 years.
More...
More evidence of industry super funds outperforming
retail funds
INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA – 20 August 2014 – New data
from independent ratings agency SuperRatings shows once again that
the industry fund sector has outperformed the retail fund sector
(such as those run by the big banks) over the 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10
year periods, based on balanced fund median rolling returns to 31
July 2014.
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Litigators slam Macquarie remediation
MEDIA – 18 August 2014 – Macquarie Bank has escalated
its compensation process for aggrieved former financial planning
clients, but law firm Maurice Blackburn has criticised the scheme
as "flawed". ASIC announced that the investment bank has
commenced writing to 160,000 former clients, inviting them to
"raise concerns about the quality of advice" they
received from Macquarie Private Wealth advisers.
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Super funds edge up in July
MEDIA – 18 August 2014 – Australian superannuation
funds made small positive gains during July, with the median growth
fund generating a return of 1.4%, according to Morningstar.
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Investigating financial advisers a "top
priority" for ASIC
ASIC – 18 August 2014 – ASIC plans to have more
"cops on the beat" as it targets the financial advice
sector. The ASIC chairman sees the financial advice sector as the
"highest risk" area under its remit, and said the
regulator regarded monitoring financial planners as a "top
priority".
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Further regulatory change in super
inevitable
MEDIA – 14 August 2014 – Further regulatory change to
Australia's superannuation system is inevitable as governments
worldwide are looking to find new ways to ensure the sustainability
of their pension systems, according to professional services firm
EY.
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Super allocations leave "investors at
risk"
MEDIA – 13 August 2014 – Australian super funds are
falling behind global best practice on asset allocation strategy,
leaving many pre-retirees at risk, argues a newly released academic
paper by the Centre for International Finance and Regulation
(CIFR).
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SCT finalises 18% more complaints
MEDIA – 13 August 2014 – The Superannuation Complaints
Tribunal (SCT) finalised 2719 complaints during 2013/14, an
increase of 18.4% compared to the previous year's 2296
finalised complaints. In 2013/14, the tribunal received 2491
written complaints, compared to 2444 complaints in 2012/13, an
increase of 2%, according to preliminary figures published in the
SCT's Quarterly Bulletin yesterday.
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Don't tamper with industry fund boards:
report
MEDIA – 12 August 2014 – Mandating independent
directors on industry super fund boards will not improve fund
performance and may actually harm the retirement incomes of
members, according to the latest McKell Institute report. This
concluded there is "no evidence" supporting the Abbott
government's intentions to mandate independent directors onto
industry superannuation fund boards.
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The Success of Representative Governance on
Superannuation Boards report
THE McKELL INSTITUTE – August 2014 – Drawing on 25
years of data, the report examines the governance structures and
performance of industry superannuation funds in comparison to other
funds in both the Australian and international market.
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SPAA Explanatory Note: Progress on change to the tax on
non-concessional contributions
GOVERNMENT – 20 August 2014 – SPAA is receiving a
number of enquiries from members concerning the progress of the
changes to the tax on non-concessional contributions which was
announced in this year's Federal Budget. Here is a link to the
ATO website concerning the Budget announcement on the refund of
non-concessional contributions.
More...
APRA: Reporting framework for superannuation and
insurance FAQs
APRA – 12 August 2014 – APRA has updated its FAQs on
the reporting framework for superannuation and insurance.
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APRA: Prudential Practice Guides for superannuation
FAQs
APRA – 12 August 2014 – APRA has updated its FAQs on
the Prudential Practice Guides for superannuation.
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