Financial Planning Financial planners look to diversify revenue. Financial planning businesses are increasingly looking to diversify their revenue streams in an attempt to secure their business models in the face of looming Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms - and potentially a second global financial crisis. Read full article Financial planner professional recognition within sight: AMP. The financial planning industry may well be on the verge of a “golden age” in which planners finally get the recognition they deserve, according to AMP director of financial planning advice and services Steve Helmich. Read full article Superannuation Super assets soar with 17% annual growth rate. Australian super assets have rocketed up 17% in annual growth rate in ten years to US$1.3 trillion, or the equivalent of 96% of Australia’s GDP, according to the Towers Watson Global Pension Assets Study. Read full article Wealth managers voice MySuper concerns. BT Financial Group (BTFG), Colonial First State (CFS) and Bendigo Wealth have aired concerns regarding the government’s proposed introduction of a low-cost superannuation product, MySuper. Read full article Regulatory ASIC warned to stay independent on financial planners. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has been placed on notice to adopt a more independent stance in the wake of the regulator having presented a Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) with preliminary data flowing from its most recent financial planning shadow shopping exercise. Read full article New clients to come wrapped … in FoFA red tape. ACompliance costs, both in terms of time and money, are shaping as the single biggest long-term threat to planning practices in a post-FoFA landscape. Read full article Funds management Managed funds underperform in December quarter. Australian managed funds on average failed to outperform their respective indices in the December quarter in every major category except small companies funds, according to Morningstar’s latest managed fund league performance tables. Read full article Risk focus needed for sustainable investing: MLC. MLC Investment Management has cautioned investors with a penchant for income-heavy portfolios that greater risk diversification and sophisticated strategies are necessary at a time when term deposits on one product reached $400 million. Read full article Insurance Insurers optimistic despite poor 2011 results. The last 12 months have been a tough year for Australian insurers as highly-publicised natural disasters pushed up claims costs across the industry, but there is some optimism for 2012. Read full article Serious opt-in flaws for clients with life insurance policies. The Federal Government’s opt-in proposals could have serious implications for clients with life insurance policies, the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has warned. Read full article Accounting Accountants eye move into financial planning. While the debate about the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) continues, the accounting profession is quietly getting on with the job of developing its own standard for financial planning, via the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board, or APESB. Read full article Count acquisition beneficial: TFS. Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA) acquisition of Count Financial has created a pipeline of referral opportunities for member firms within the group's subsidiary, Countplus. Read full article Investments Investor portfolios need conservative tilt. Investors should consider adopting a conservative tilt to their portfolios in times of global economic uncertainty, according to Macquarie Private Wealth Riccardo Briganti. Read full article Australia’s investment appetite sustaining economy. Australia’s investment appetite is providing a healthy buffer against a global economic slowdown, with the value of major mining and infrastructure projects now reaching $415.4 billion. Read full article Markets Emerging markets’ outlook sparks interest. Local-currency emerging market debt could be the best asset class in the next 10 years. Western countries, such as Australia, are set to experience a 20 per cent increase in economic growth in the next decade compared with an 80 per cent growth for the rest of the world, an investment strategist said. Read full article Shock treatment: “Never waste a good crisis”. Zurich’s Matt Drennan sees encouraging signs emerging in Europe but wishes the euro zone would stop hogging the headlines and let the positive news from the US and China get some air time. Read full article