Networth News

Financial Planning

Financial planners set for advice blow. Australia's financial planning sector may suffer a blow to confidence in coming months with ASIC's Shadow Shop survey predicted to show significant levels of poor advice still exist across the industry. Read full article

FOFA compliance to cost millions warns FSC. The Financial Services Council (FSC) has added its weight to calls for the Federal Government to provide an appropriate transition time for the implementation of the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) legislation. Read full article

Superannuation

MySuper regulations fundamentally flawed: Aon Hewitt. Industry concerns have arisen over pricing structures and fee levels under the proposed My Super legislation, with calls for the government to allow differential pricing. Read full article

FOFA to dent personal superannuation growth. Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms will dent the rate of growth of the personal superannuation and allocated pension markets while the self-managed, industry super fund and employer sponsored sectors will continue to flourish, according to research house Dexx&R. Read full article

Regulatory

No room for non-compliance: FPA. The chief executive of the FPA has warned Australia's financial advice community that non-compliance will not be tolerated. Read full article

Legal test looms if FOFA unchanged. The underlying legality of the Government's Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) changes will almost certainly be tested in the event the legislation passes the Parliament without amendment. Read full article

Funds management

Significant value in small/microcap sector. There is tremendous value to be had in the small and microcap section of the Australian Securities Exchange, according to microcaps specialists Contango MicroCap. Read full article

Market neutral funds underrated: Zenith. Market neutral funds provide some of the best investment opportunities, but are too often overlooked in the Australian market, according to research and ratings house Zenith. Read full article

Investments

Investors looking backwards: Mercer. Australian investors are biased towards local shares and looking backwards, according to Mercer, which released its investment report ranking the best performing fund managers and sector results. Read full article

Planners steer 28% of new client money to cash. The proportion of new client money allocated to cash rose sharply in the five months to November 2011 as financial planners took a dim view of other asset classes, an Investment Trends survey showed. Read full article

Insurance

Financial Ombudsman Service still inundated with flood claims. One year on from the floods that devastated south-east Queensland, confusion over flood definitions means a huge number of disputes over denied flood claims is still clogging up the courts of the Financial Ombudsman Service. Read full article

Christmas storms add to disastrous year for insurers. The damage bill from Melbourne's Christmas Day storms has topped $550 million, with insurers receiving 77,174 claims for damage to cars, homes and businesses caused by the huge hailstones and flash floods that lashed Melbourne. Read full article

Markets

Policy tools still effective in downturn: HSBC. Unlike other developed economies, Australia still has a full suite of policy tools at its disposal as it attempts to deal with the current global downturn, according to HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham. Read full article

Eurozone fears hit shares but Aussie bonds popular. The Australian equity market fell sharply yesterday after multiple ratings downgrades in Europe, but the bond market had huge support from offshore investors seeking a safe haven. Read full article