Financial Standard

Flexible work fails to follow women into leadership

VINNY VUCAGO   While a greater number of women are advancing into management roles, inflexible leadership positions and unequal caring responsibilities are forcing more women to leave senior positions.

Former Income AM director launches fixed income advisory

MATTHEW WAI   A former Income Asset Management executive director has launched Ancora Fixed Income Advisory for high-net-worth clients targeting the defensive asset class.

ETF assets hit $388bn as inflows near $7bn

VINNY VUCAGO   Australia's exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry attracted $6.9 billion in net inflows during September, taking total assets under management to a record $388 billion as investors continue to favour index-based strategies, international equities and fixed income.

L1 Group sells Platinum's responsible entity to Equity Trustees

RIDDHIMA TALWANI   L1 Group has offloaded Platinum Investment Management Limited (PIML) to Equity Trustees (EQT), handing over the responsible entity (RE) role for the Platinum funds while keeping investment management in-house.

Genetic testing ban takes effect for life insurance

VINNY VUCAGO   Australians can access genetic testing without risking discrimination in life insurance under a new ban that took effect on October 8, with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) also updating its rules to handle complaints involving adverse genetic test results.

Life CCC spots 10.6k breaches in FY26

MATTHEW WAI   The Life Code Compliance Committee has published its FY26 annual report, which saw over 10,600 breaches by insurers with close to 30,000 customers affected.

AMP Super launches new app

VINNY VUCAGO   AMP Super has launched a new app aimed at helping members better understand their retirement position, plan for the future and manage income.

AMP, CFS and Vision Super get the Epic Retirement Tick

RIDDHIMA TALWANI   Three super funds, AMP Super, CFS FirstChoice and Vision Super, have joined the line-up of funds that have received the Epic Retirement Tick from Chant West and the Epic Retirement Institute.

Lowe slams government spending

ELIZA BAVIN   Former RBA governor Philip Lowe has slammed government spending, public policy and overregulation revealing his thoughts on the current state of the economy.

Interest rates at highest level in 15 years

MATTHEW WAI   The monetary policy board of the Reserve Bank of Australia unanimously agreed to increase the interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.6%, the highest level since 2011.

ASIC hits Fidante private credit fund with interim stop order

KARREN VERGARA   The $800 million Ares Global Credit Income Fund, which is issued by Fidante Partners, has been hit with an interim stop order from the corporate regulator for target market determination (TMD) deficiencies.

Fortnum pays $1.35m to settle ASIC lawsuit

MATTHEW WAI   Fortnum Private Wealth will pay a penalty of $1.35 million and ASIC's costs to resolve legal proceedings against the firm over a cyber governance matter which occurred between April 2021 and May 2023.

LGT poaches Koda Capital's top-rated adviser

RIDDHIMA TALWANI   LGT Wealth Management has poached Koda Capital's 2025 top-rated adviser and partner Frank Macindoe.

HUB24 boosts adviser engagement with new hire

MATTHEW WAI   HUB24 has appointed an executive hiring from Allianz Retire+ to oversee its technical services functions for better engagement with advisers.

CareSuper rejigs beneficiary nominations, investment options

KARREN VERGARA   CareSuper has introduced several changes to its investment options and beneficiary nominations.

Brighter Super expands indexed investment suite

MATTHEW WAI   Brighter Super has launched two new low-cost indexed share options, expanding its investment menus to meet adviser demand.

Finura brings AI engineering in house with merger

MATTHEW WAI   Finura Group has merged with a software engineering business to bring artificial intelligence agent technology and sovereign cloud services in house.

AI overtakes superfunds for investor education

VINNY VUCAGO   Artificial intelligence (AI) has overtaken superannuation funds as a source of investment information among younger, highly knowledgeable Australian investors, according to new research from Global X.

Australia's family offices surpass $323bn in assets

RIDDHIMA TALWANI   Family offices in Australia have surpassed $323 billion in assets, according to data from Rainmaker Information.

Mining, property fuel Aussie billionaires' wealth

KARREN VERGARA   Australian billionaires' riches are highly concentrated in mining, financial services, technology and property, accounting for 0.7% of the total US$15.1 trillion in global wealth studied by the 2026 Billionaire Census.