Networth News

Welcome to the Networth News update for Friday the 2nd of September.

FoFA a factor in Count sale to CBA

The Government's Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms were a factor in Count Financial's decision to accept the Commonwealth Bank's proposed acquisition of the financial planning group. Money Management reports that Count believes that it will be able to better deliver a scaled advice proposition under FoFA as a result of the CBA deal. Count Financial chief executive, Andrew Gale, said while FoFA was not a major factor in proposed deal, it was a catalyst in that FoFA would likely encourage vertical integration in the financial planning industry.

ANZ: phone-based advice good for engagement

Financial planning practices that deliver advice over the phone are more likely to better engage their clients and improve efficiency and innovation, according to ANZ. Professional Planner reports that ANZ is actively building a phone-based advice presence with a view to talking to clients about their investment portfolios, changes in superannuation as well as general financial advice. Paul Barrett, general manager of advice and distribution at ANZ, said the introduction of phone-based model is a wholly adviser-led initiative and noted that its aligned financial planning groups have been asking for such a model to help service clients efficiently under FoFA.

Investors increase cash in SMSF portfolios

The self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) sector is treating cash as a legitimate long-term asset class with more than a quarter of SMSF portfolios dedicated to cash, according to a Vanguard/Investment Trends SMSF report. Investor Daily reports that as of May 2011, SMSFs held $113 billion in cash, and of this figure $39 billion was classified as excess cash as concerned investors were concerned about recent market volatility. Investment Trends principal Mark Johnston said that there was a lot more cash sitting in the likes of term deposits and that this trend would likely continue for the foreseeable future.

Fund managers stock up on retail bargains

Fund managers were more active in picking up bargains in the retail equities sector during the recent August reporting season. The Financial Review reports that fund managers were more active during the period of recent sharemarket volatility than they were the same time last year. Almost 1800 substantial notices were posted to the Australian Stock exchange during August 2011, compared with just over 1400 for 2010. The retail sector has taken a hammering during recent months, and fund managers increased holdings in companies including The Reject Shop, JB Hi-Fi and Kathmandu.