Networth News

Financial Planning

Planners face higher costs and risks unless FoFA is delayed. ANZ has warned the Federal Government that it needs to either delay or stage the implementation of its Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) changes or risk imposing undue costs and risks on the industry. Read full article

Financial advisers should keep low value clients: Russell. Advisers should consider their options before selling off their lower value clients, according to Russell Investments, with new alternatives to create a profitable relationship despite impending FOFA regulations. Read full article

Superannuation

Paying for financial advice from superannuation fees urged. One of the largest providers of scaled advice to superannuation funds, Money Solutions, has warned that super fund members are less likely to seek financial advice or even engage in the advice process if they think they will have to pay for it. Read full article

In superannuation, bigger can be better but not always. With Australia’s biggest super fund, AustralianSuper, announcing yet another merger, this time with the public sector industry fund AGEST, the question is whether super funds are merging for the benefit of their members or to build financial empires. Read full article

Regulatory

ASIC signals soft compliance on introduction of FOFA. ASIC has signalled a 12 month period of soft compliance with the government’s planned Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms – a measure which is in line with industry calls for more time to comply in view of FOFA delays. Read full article

PJC: Government needs to re-think payday reforms. The Government’s proposed reforms aimed at tightening controls over payday lenders need to be reassessed, the Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services has found. Read full article

Funds management

Multi-sector demand to increase among high end investors. Demand for multi-sector funds is likely to remain elevated in the current volatile environment, with increased interest from larger and more sophisticated investors, according to Standard & Poor’s. Read full article

Global managers show flight to quality. The significant shift from equities to bonds and cash is no surprise as the European debt situation remains unsettled, although there are still opportunities for investors, according to HSBC Australia’s head of global investments. Read full article

Investments

Deep, liquid corporate bond market a hard sell in share-loving Australia. Wayne Swan’s plans for cranking up a retail corporate bond market are useful, but a lack of institutional demand is standing in the way of the development of a deep corporate bond market in this country. Read full article

REIT market pressure may ease in 2012. Australia is likely to have a defensive real estate investment trust (REIT) market in 2012 as pressure on the retail and residential sectors eases, making the local market attractive for investors, a UBS executive has said. Read full article

Markets

Asia outlook ‘positive’ in 2012, but Europe debt threat looms large. Asia will not be immune to Europe’s credit woes - the single biggest threat to global market sentiment – but Asia will send some positive signals throughout the coming year, Russell Investments’ chief Asia-Pacific investment strategist said. Read full article

Analyst questions claims over cost of funding. As bankers ramp up their warnings over the spiralling cost of wholesale funds, questions have emerged as to whether they could be overstating the impact of the euro-zone crunch on their profit margins. Read full article