In the second straight week of gains, the financial year to date's gain was 286, which is the strongest start to a financial year in the series running back to 2019-2020.

Despite the promising start, the net change over the past 12 months was -260, which is believed to be heavily impacted by the qualifications standard deadline that passed on 1 January 2026, with at least 450 advisers falling off the register.

"The week was broad rather than big, with 23 licensee owners up against 18 down," Padua said.

"A total of 81 advisers were affected by appointments and/or resignations this week, including 12 new entrants to the register."

The increase includes three licensees which grew by three advisers, and four up by two advisers.

On the contrary, WT Financial Group saw five advisers departed this week, with three joining Centrepoint Group's Alliance Wealth, one remaining with Choice Financial Advisors and one departure. The group is now down 22 advisers over the past four weeks.

Overall, 23 licensee owners had net gains, and 18 licensee owners had net losses.

Meanwhile, Padua noted the latest financial adviser exam results attributed to the net increase of advisers.

"Of the 27 advisers who arrived this week, 12 were new entrants, a nice uplift, no doubt attributable to the latest financial adviser exam results...," it said.

Two-hundred-and-twenty candidates sat in the most recent exam in August, up 11 on June, but the pass rate was slightly lower (67.7%) in comparison, with 149 candidates passing.

"The three 2026 sittings have produced 508 passes, while 399 people have recorded a first ever appointment on the register so far this year. The running total of passes now stands at 21,262, around 6100 more than the 15,169 advisers on the register today," Padua said.

When integrated advice drives practice growth

Many financial advisers aspire to provide genuinely integrated advice, but finding ways to support more clients without increasing operational demands remains a challenge. As they re-evaluate where they can add the most value to their clients' finances beyond their existing services, they are turning to one of the hidden gems of holistic advice: group insurance.

A case for group insurance 

That opportunity has become more apparent as a decade of superannuation reforms has fundamentally changed how Australians access and manage insurance through super. Over the course of 10 years, millions of working Australians went from having automatic default cover through their super to having none at all, before fresh calls emerged to ensure fund members better understand their cover and how to make a claim when they need it.

The Actuaries Institute found in a 2025 study that, based on current rates of death and disability, around 30% of fund members will experience at least one insured event during their working lives and receive an insurance payment. Yet many Australians still have only a limited understanding of how insurance works.

The Council of Australian Life Insurers' life insurance sentiment tracker found that 70% of respondents with life insurance have a limited understanding of how it works, while 14% admitted they had never looked into it. Advisers can help bridge that gap, not just through awareness but through action. The same study found that 48% of Australians would look to a financial adviser for insurance advice if their circumstances changed.

A natural progression 

Kris Goodwin, director, growth & wealth distribution at North, says advisers are looking for ways to expand the number of clients they support without adding operational burden to their practice, and that's where group insurance comes to the fore.

ASFA's June 2025 figures show there were around 9.3 million lives covered by group superannuation arrangements, making it a significant feature of many Australians' finances, even if some members are unaware they have it.

"Accessible life insurance options can help advisers have insurance conversations with a broader segment of clients, including those who may not have traditionally engaged with individually underwritten insurance options," she says.

Advisers can also help untangle the legacy of multiple job changes and long-delayed financial decisions.

"A common challenge is that many clients hold multiple superannuation accounts, often because insurance has been retained in a separate fund over time. While those arrangements may have made sense at a particular point, they can also create additional complexity, administration requirements and potentially duplicated costs," Goodwin says.

The complexity surrounding insurance can itself discourage engagement. Based on the Actuaries Institute's findings, many Australians need guidance to understand the cover they hold, the claims they may be eligible to make, the premiums they are paying and how to navigate the claims process. Without the right support, some members risk missing out on benefits they may be entitled to receive.

"The opportunity for the industry is to make life insurance easier to access and easier to discuss," Goodwin says. "At the same time, where appropriate, advisers may have opportunities to consolidate a client's superannuation arrangements so both their wealth and insurance needs can be managed through North, supporting a more integrated client experience."

Bringing choice and flexibility 

This year, North launched North Protect, a new group insurance offering available through eligible North and MyNorth Super and Pension products.

"One of the strengths of North Protect is the flexibility it provides advisers through multiple pathways designed to cater for different client circumstances," Goodwin says.

For example, Standard Cover is available for new members joining MyNorth Super and Pension, while Tailored Cover and Insurance Transfer options are available for those requiring more customised arrangements.

"North Protect has been developed to help advisers support more clients with their life insurance needs, while keeping superannuation and insurance connected within the North ecosystem," she says.

Bringing insurance into the same conversation as superannuation and investments is a logical next step for advisers looking to deliver genuinely holistic advice.

"The key takeaway from the launch of North Protect is choice, flexibility and integration," Goodwin says.

Breaking the barriers 

Through the new offering, North is seeking to address some of the common barriers advisers often encounter when discussing insurance.

"The barriers advisers often talk about are complexity, affordability, administration and implementation effort. Insurance is incredibly important, but it can sometimes become harder to prioritise when advisers are balancing multiple client needs and managing practice capacity."

Practice capacity is partly an internal challenge, but it also reflects broader workforce trends. Peak advice body FAAA has noted that adviser numbers have fallen due to the retirement of baby boomer advisers, the lengthy education and training pathway for new entrants, and the exit of many advisers from the profession.

But for those who are thriving and committed to growth, conversations around group insurance couldn't be any more urgent. Millions of Australians remain underinsured at a time when economic uncertainty and mental health-related illnesses continue to rise.

In the 12 months to June this year, life insurers paid nearly $6 billion across more than 50,000 claims through group insurance. Those figures highlight that insurance within super is far from a benefit that sits unused. Claims are being paid every day, providing a financial lifeline when members and their families need it most.

Goodwin explains that the value of group insurance can be highlighted at the point of engagement, when advisers are already discussing their clients' superannuation and long before a claim event occurs.

This is especially true for prospective Gen Y clients. The FAAA's 2024 Consumer Research on the Value of Advice found that Gen Y respondents were more likely than older generations to value a holistic approach to financial planning.

"Rather than viewing superannuation and insurance as separate conversations, advisers can consider how these needs work together as part of a client's broader financial strategy."

Brought to you by North

The reclassification took effect on 21 September 2026, following years of reforms to Vietnam's market infrastructure, regulatory framework and access for international investors.

The milestone was marked at a conference in Hanoi attended by 200 delegates, including representatives from global investment firms, custodians, securities companies and other market participants.

Vietnam Finance Minister Ngo Van Tuan said the reclassification would broaden access to international capital while raising expectations around market quality and regulatory capacity.

"Vietnam is ready to listen to international organisations and pursue further bold reforms to build a transparent, safe, and efficient capital market that remains sustainably attractive," Tuan said.

The government intends to continue capital market development through 2030, with a longer-term vision to 2045, including measures to improve liquidity, modernise infrastructure, strengthen risk management and diversify investment products.

UK ambassador to Vietnam Iain Grant Frew said the reclassification reflected the country's economic transformation and efforts to build a deeper and more internationally connected capital market.

The World Bank also welcomed the reforms, with Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos country director Mariam Sherman describing the reclassification as a "milestone, not the final goal."

Sherman said deeper capital markets could attract private and institutional capital, diversifying financing beyond the banking system and direct long-term saving towards productive investment.

FTSE Russell said more than US$22 trillion in assets use its indices as benchmarks.

The index provider and London Stock Exchange Group will continue working with Vietnam as it develops its capital market, with a focus on supporting international capital flows and a deeper and more resilient market.

Treasury released the draft legislation on the 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts in early September, consulting on how the minimum tax will work, what types of trusts and income should be excluded and how a fixed trust should be defined.

One of the proposed changes is introducing a new option for discretionary trusts to be exempt from the minimum tax if they elect to make fixed distributions to pre-nominated beneficiaries, as an alternative to roll-over relief. The election would not require a restructure and is not expected to result in state and territory stamp duties.

Trustees will also be able to nominate individuals and entities that are capable of benefiting under the trust from 1 July 2028, including eligible companies and trusts, with no limit on the number of beneficiaries that can be nominated.

The association believes some of the new pathways proposed are too rigid and could unfairly penalise people who make genuine mistakes or experience normal life events such as family changes, succession planning or circumstances beyond their control.

"Important practical issues remain unresolved, including state and territory stamp duty consequences, the treatment of beneficiaries under the excluded election trust (EET) regime, the operation of the roll-over provisions, and the potentially substantial compliance and professional advice costs associated with understanding, implementing and maintaining the new arrangements," the FAAA wrote in its submission.

"The FAAA supports appropriately targeted integrity measures but considers that further refinement of the package is necessary before the legislation is enacted."

The submission highlighted three pathways trustees of discretionary trusts will need to assess: remaining within the minimum tax regime, choosing the EET model or restructuring under the transitional roll-over option.

Treasury stated in the explanatory memorandum it has yet to release further legislation to address residency, CGT, international taxation, administrative and reporting requirements, and integrity considerations.

Consequently, the FAAA pointed out taxpayers and their advisers are being asked to evaluate the costs, benefits and risks of each pathway without a complete understanding of how the broader framework will operate in practice.

"This is likely to increase complexity, require additional professional advice, and result in significant unnecessary implementation and compliance costs. This uncertainty is particularly significant, given that discretionary trusts are commonly used for a range of non-tax purposes," the association said.

It is therefore recommending Treasury to complete the minimum tax framework before commencement and defer key implementation deadlines until taxpayers, and their advisers have sufficient certainty about how the regime will operate.

"This would reduce unnecessary complexity and compliance and advice costs, while helping taxpayers make informed decisions about whether restructuring, electing into the EET regime or remaining within the minimum tax framework is appropriate," the FAAA said.

The proceedings have been brought through on behalf of representative plaintiff Rachelle Dessent and approximately 2800 account holders who invested about $321 million of superannuation in Shield through Macquarie's superannuation platform.

Shield collapsed in late 2024 after significant investor funds were reportedly directed into risk property developments and other investments. Across the broader collapse, almost 6000 Australians were affected, with more than $620 million of superannuation invested in the fund, according to Gordan Legal.

Macquarie agreed in 2025 to compensate certain investors for the amounts they originally invested in Shield. However, Gordan Legal alleges that investors have not been compensated for the investment returns their superannuation may have generated had it remained invested elsewhere, or for the distress associated with the collapse.

The legal action alleges Macquarie failed to undertake appropriate due diligence and oversight before making Shield investment options available through its superannuation platform.

Dessent said she had trusted the Macquarie brand when making the investment.

"The blood just drained from my face when I first saw how my super had dropped," she said.

"I was absolutely gutted. I trusted the Macquarie brand, and I wouldn't have invested in Shield if I wasn't with them."

Gordan Legal partner James Naughton, one of the lawyers leading the proceedings, said the case concerned the impact of lost retirement savings.

"For more Australians, superannuation is their most important asset," Naughton said.

"When your retirement savings are tied up in a failed investment, you miss out on funds that could be life changing. That's what happened in this case. It's time for Macquarie to pay the full amount back."

The action may apply to investors who used Macquarie's superannuation platform to invest in Shield, including those who have already received a payout but believe it did not cover their full losses.

The ASX-listed firm said the review will provide insight if a restructuring of group ownership and non-core investments will be needed.

The process is currently underway but no definitive decisions have been made, it said.

Sequoia said the update was provided to maintain a "properly informed" market.

"Sequoia will continue to keep the market informed in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations," Sequoia said.

Sequoia operates in financial services, media, superannuation and professional services, including InterPrac, which the group is currently seeking a buyer for after a failed transaction to offload the business to Conquest Investment Management in March.

ASIC withdrew legal proceedings against Sequoia after it entered an undertaking not to put the Cross Deed of Guarantee at risk tied to the sale.

The regulator applied to the Federal Court in April for KPMG to investigate the proposed sale, concerned that it could adversely affect InterPrac's creditors, including its liabilities in relation to complaints sitting with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) regarding the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds.

The loss from the managed investment schemes is totalling over $1 billion from thousands of victims.

The group also recently farewelled its former chief executive Garry Crole, stating the departure is "in the best interests of the company and its stakeholders."

Crole has since been banned for 10 years by ASIC earlier this month.

In August, Sequoia also saw its chief financial officer Lizzie Tan leaving the company, while stating that it will not pay any dividends in the financial year, revoking interim dividend it had announced earlier.

Graeme Lay has been named the chief financial officer following Tan's departure,

The Statement of Claim filed with the Supreme Court of Victoria lists nine defendants against whom Chiodo is taking action against: City Built, which carried out construction, construction-management, project-management and building-services businesses, and Force 1 Constructions, which provided site-security services.

Chiodo is also suing Roberto Filippini and members of the Filippini family, including his wife Dimitra Filippini, and a related company FPC VIC. Roberto Filippini was a director, officer, controller or authorised representative of one or more of the City Built and Force 1.

Chiodo alleges that between December 2019 and October 2024, his company Chiodo Corporation paid or caused to be paid at least $184.1 million to, or for the benefit of, the companies and Roberto Filippini.

Instead of using investor funds for construction, Chiodo alleges the family used substantial amounts to "enrich" themselves, including by purchasing luxury vehicles such as a Lamborghinis and Maseratis.

The "defendants were enriched by receiving money, payment of purchase prices or deposits, payment of mortgage liabilities, properties, vehicles, trust assets, investment assets or other benefits," he alleged.

Other allegations include altered invoices and timesheets, duplicate reimbursement requests, claims for work and materials not supplied, and payments for liabilities that either did not exist or were overstated.

This is in addition to alleged failures to verify claims, pay creditors, maintain proper records, and account for project funds, as well as the diversion of money intended for creditors to unrelated personal or family purposes.

Some of the projects include 71-85 Port Douglas Road, Port Douglas, Queensland, 33-35 Nicholson Street, Bentleigh, Victoria and two luxury penthouses at 29 Queens Road in Melbourne.

Chiodo is also the director and co-founder of CF Capital, the investment manager of Shield.

ASIC recently took further action on Chiodo, this time for spruiking another property investment that raised $1.54 million from five SMSF investors.

Furthermore, Chiodo believes the defendants "concealed the causes of action by presenting altered documents as genuine, retaining the genuine documents, representing that creditors had been paid, giving false Project updates, moving funds between related accounts, using family members, trusts and companies to hold assets, failing to provide accurate accounts and failing to disclose the true application of advances."

He said he did not discover discrepancies and the alleged fraud until he began obtaining documents directly from subcontractors and suppliers from approximately March 2025.

Chiodo's claim exceeds $200 million. Between 27 December 2019 and 24 October 2024, he alleges $184,113,049.45 was paid for benefit of the related companies and the family.

Chiodo said he does not assert the entire $184,113,049.45 constituted fraudulently obtained money without allowance for genuine work.

This year's congress, themed 'EXPLORE,' reflects the core purpose to providing financial advisers with the opportunity to explore new ideas, practical strategies and industry developments that help to better serve their clients, the FAAA said.

"It's also about exploring different perspectives through conversations with peers, experts and industry leaders, and taking away insights that can be applied immediately in their businesses," the association said.

Participating in two separate panels, FAAA general manager of policy, advocacy and standards Phil Anderson, noted attendees can expect what the regulator is bringing to the table in relation to the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) reforms, the CSLR, as well as other announcements from assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino last month, in a discussion between himself, ASIC senior executive leader Leah Sciacca, and FAAA policy and advocacy consultant Andrea Forbes.

"We certainly expect to see an answer on the CSLR special levy," Anderson said.

"We expect to see some more progress on the education standards, and we'll also talk about the reform on AML/CTF and how it impacts advisers.

"Leah will talk about some reports that ASIC is working on that will be interesting to follow, including a review on separately managed accounts, but she'll also have a chance to talk about what they have done this year across Shield and First Guardian."

Anderson will also moderate a conversation between CSLR chief executive David Berry and AFCA lead ombudsman Shail Singh, who are providing their perspectives on complaints, compensation, and regulatory developments.

He said both speakers will be able to talk about the progression in complaints for First Guardian and Shield, as well as other key themes and new emerging issues from intriguing sectors like private credit.

"It'll be two informative and detailed sessions with a lot of external speakers who are able to add a lot of value to the message," he said.

The FAAA announced Anderson will retire from his current role at the conclusion of the congress.

Financial Standard is an official supporter of the 2026 FAAA Congress.

MDS has written to the Treasury to intervene, noting that rather than a funding reform, the FSC's motive is to force consolidation of smaller licensees.

In its white paper proposal, the FSC recommends redesigning the ASIC financial advice levy to fund supervisory uplift, by materially increasing the licence-level component while reducing the per-adviser burden.

Under the first option, it proposes increasing the levy from $1500 to a minimum of $25,000 while proportionately reducing the per-adviser fee from approximately $2,300 to a maximum of $1,700.

"This would better align levy incidence with where risk is managed, recognising that continued increases in per-adviser fees are not sustainable as a means of addressing ongoing regulatory costs," the FSC said.

Under a second option, FSC recommends raising levy to $40,000 for licensees and per-adviser levy to reduce to $500.

MDS noted under this proposal a single adviser practice would face an increase of roughly 600% under the first option and over 950% under the second, while a 300-adviser licensee's levy would fall by around 23%.

"Essentially the entire redistribution flows to the 28 licensees at the top. Those licensees, carrying 5744 advisers or 37.9% of the profession would collectively save in the order of $2.8 million a year under Option A and $9.3 million under Option B," MDS director and founder Alexander Euvrard said.

"That is the transaction at the heart of this proposal: an eight-figure annual transfer from more than 1700 of the smallest advice businesses in the country to a group of large licensees small enough to fit in one (albeit large) boardroom."

MDS added the white paper's own modelling assumes that 15-20% of licensees would consolidate or close as a result.

"That is not an unintended side effect to be managed; it is the design working as intended," Euvrard said.

MDS head of strategy Ashley Mahadeea noted many large adviser groups view the rapidly growing self-licensed sector as a competitive threat and this proposal would materially blunt that competition.

"A levy whose stated modelling anticipates the exit of one in five licensees, overwhelmingly the smallest, is an industry restructuring instrument, not a cost-recovery mechanism and it should be evaluated as such," Mahadeea said.

"In our view the proposal is not a funding reform. It is a redistribution of regulatory cost away from large licensees and onto small ones, dressed as risk pricing and it would operate as a structural barrier to the self-licensed model at precisely the time that model is delivering strong growth and client outcomes."

Generation Wealth Partners is joining Esencia Wealth, also based in Sydney, saying the merger represents "the next chapter" in its journey to provide a broader range of specialist capabilities and deeper expertise across the business.

The merger brings Generation Wealth Partners principals Peter Lee and Joe Jutrisa to Esencia Wealth, with both joining as partners and senior financial advisers.

In addition, the merger expands Esencia Wealth's presence in the HNW market, the firm said.

Commenting, Esencia Wealth chief executive Matthew Fenning said the merger reflected the growing number of advice businesses looking for a long-term partner that aligned with their values and approach.

"Peter and Joe have built a great business based on trust, strong client relationships and a genuine commitment to doing what's best for their clients. Their values, approach and focus on client outcomes align closely with the culture we are building at Esencia," Fenning said.

"By joining Esencia, Peter and Joe can spend more time focused on what they do best, helping clients achieve their goals through great advice, while their clients benefit from the broader capability, resources and depth of expertise across our business.

"It also creates the capacity for them to help more Australians access great financial advice in the years ahead. Generation Wealth Partners is a great example of how we can preserve what makes a business special, and we're delighted to welcome Peter, Joe and their clients to Esencia."

Lee said: "We started Generation Wealth Partners because we believed there was a better way to serve clients and their families, with genuine relationships, personalised advice and a real focus on the long term."

"Joining Esencia Wealth means we can keep delivering on that promise, while giving our clients access to the depth of expertise and resources that come with a growing national firm."

Meanwhile, Jutrisa added the decision to merge was "straightforward" based on the relationship between the two businesses.

"We have a shared vision about the kind of firm we want to be part of, and the kind of advice we want to deliver. I'm excited about what we can offer our clients as part of Esencia and the opportunities that lie ahead as we continue helping them achieve their financial goals," Jutrisa said.

Esencia Wealth was formed with the combination of Advise Wise, Insight Private Wealth, Sovereign Wealth Partners, and Randle Advisory in June 2024.

Since its formation, the group has expanded into Queensland earlier this year and completed another merger with Cove Financial Group in June.

Fenning said the series of mergers is aligned with the firm's ambition to build an "enduring world-class" advice business, adding that more strategic growth initiatives are expected to come before the end of the year.

"We are building a firm where great advisers can do the best work of their careers and where clients receive the advice they need to achieve their goals with confidence," he said.

The Invested in what comes next report argues that while the profession has undergone significant reform, public perceptions remain shaped by outdated stereotypes that fail to reflect the modern role of investment professionals.

SIAA chief executive Maria Lykouras said the perception gap risks turning away both prospective employees and clients.

"Stockbroking and investment advice now rivals other established professions, but it is not seen as relevant or trusted as it should be," Lykouras said.

She said the profession offered a combination of market exposure, intellectual challenge and human judgment that would become increasingly valuable as artificial intelligence reshaped knowledge-based industries.

"The reality is stockbroking and investment advice is a dynamic, market-facing profession that offers intellectual challenge and opportunities to have a real-world impact," Lykouras said.

The report identifies several barriers to building a broader talent pipeline, including recruitment through traditional networks, career progression models that can be difficult to sustain and informal approaches to client allocation and advancement.

Women account for only one in four investment professionals, with representation falling further at senior levels.

Lykouras said firms needed to adapt their recruitment and retention strategies to attract a new generation of workers, while also responding to changing client demographics.

The report highlights the expected transfer of around $5 trillion in Australian wealth over the coming decade, with women expected to receive about 65% of that wealth.

"Investors need trusted human guidance more than ever, particularly as wealth changes hands and financial decisions become more complex," Lykouras said.

The report also points to an advice gap, with only 20% to 30% of Australians actively participating in markets doing so with professional guidance.

SIAA recommends firms expand graduate recruitment beyond traditional networks, establish mentoring and sponsorship programs, review client advancement pathways and better communicate the modern role of investment professionals.

"The window to shape the profession's reputation is open now. Stockbroking and investment advice firms have a generational opportunity to change perceptions and bring new talent and new clients into the sector," Lykouras said.

As a result, the sector requires constant support to remain compliant and keep on top of those changes. Digital advice is emerging, with many super funds and advisers using these tools to scale and improve efficiency.

However, digital advice isn't as simple as implementing artificial intelligence (AI) into an adviser's daily operations, and this misconception continues to play out over the years.

AZ NGA group chief executive Paul Barrett says although digital advice has been available for a little over a decade, it is still in its "infancy" in terms of how engagement is going to play a role in the future, highlighting that there's still a long way to go to extrapolate the full potential of digital advice.

Currently, providers are trying to build better apps to engage clients directly so as to prompt people at the right time in their financial life cycle and therefore seek advice.

Then and there is the "old school concept of "robo-advice" that he explains as just a "dressed-up managed funds implementation business."

"There's a huge opportunity for advice businesses to spend more money engaging their clients using AI and other digital means, but to do that, you firstly need scale," he says.

"You need a big advice platform so you can get true operating leverage."

He asserts that to truly scale the digital offering, practices will need to spend "real money" on it and take time to understand the initiatives and what they're trying to achieve with their deployment.

Barrett's version of digital advice also includes placing an adviser to appear in a client's life at exactly the right moment, specifically, in scenarios involving significant decision-making, like a home purchase, the loss of loved ones and other major life events.

However, he says it is simply impossible to do that right now because advisers lack access to clients' data.

To address the issue, AZ NGA is investing in the middle and back office, using its AI-enabled partners to drive that level of process transformation.

"How you use data and how you use client engagement technology to turn up at the right time; I've always thought that to be a key opportunity when it comes to digital advice," he says.

"But I don't think we're anywhere near it because we don't have the data but we're getting better at that.

"Once you've done the foundational work, you've got a chance to deploy digital solutions accordingly using AI and turn up in the client's life at the right time."

He explains digital advice can also generate some "huge margin opportunities", including improving efficiency for individual advisers.

Elemnta chief executive Shaun Green and chief product officer Dane Baldwin share the same sentiment, saying digital advice has been fragmented since it was introduced.

Baldwin believes digital advice revolves around a whole, or at least a predominant performance of advice delivered by some form of "advice engine".

"We see different iterations of that across the industry. If you look at the Ignition product, it's predominantly delivered by a digital advice engine with some human advisers in the loop," Baldwin says.

"To the other end of the spectrum, which is what DASH has in the market - a human out of the loop - fully digital advice engine that's deterministic and provides advice based on parameters that a customer has given.

"From my point of view, digital advice is either wholly or predominantly delivered by a digital engine."

He also thinks AI has a role to play but isn't broadly adopted at the moment.

"I think that [digital advice] has been focused on some of the wrong areas. It has huge potential to serve Australians who need advice but don't necessarily meet the thresholds financial advisers require to be profitable and fit their practice profile," Baldwin continues.

"One of the first iterations of digital advice that came out - the robo-advice provider - ASIC took a look at them and gave them the 'ban hammer', and the whole thing got shut down."

Baldwin also says advice practices and licensees will need to revise their view that "computers can't give advice" to tame the current competitive dynamic between the advisers and innovation.

Another reason is that the technology can give Australians who don't meet a certain adviser threshold, or cannot afford advice, a little more access.

"From that standpoint, and from how it's been implemented, in the industry at the moment, I think it's still very much in its infancy," Baldwin says.

Green says digital advice spans such a broad spectrum that it involves many different aspects.

Green questions whether the invented tools were directed at consumers or designed to support an adviser, or whether there is some hybrid in the middle.

Depending on that determination, an adviser may or may not be able to use them.

"This is why the labelling of digital advice is a challenging one, and maybe one that is confusing to people," Green adds.

"There's been a huge evolution in this space over time, which raised a lot of opportunities, but in our experience advisers adopting new technologies has always been a challenge."

He laments that the implementation is a challenge for a few reasons, including the volume of technology already being used in practices.

"But also, partly due to the nature of the industry - being a very fragmented and varied industry," Green says.

"There's a huge amount of variance in almost everything in advice; you've got a large portion of the industry that is comprised of small businesses, and for them to adopt any new technology, there needs to be really clear value, and often there needs to be support around how to manage that."

He also believes the "practical reality" of any technology adoption is a barrier to advisers adopting it more broadly.

"But when you look at the big super funds, for example, it's the ones that are investing the big dollars in trying to go down this path because they've got pressure to do so with such huge volumes of clients," Green says.

"They've got the capital to break through those barriers. I think we're going to see it continue to move in different directions that spread digital advice."

The $430 billion AustralianSuper's recent announcement it partnered with Ignition Advice to provide a new digital advice platform signalled a broader shift for super funds to deliver financial advice.

Members will then have the option to obtain comprehensive guidance by speaking with a qualified adviser virtually or on the phone.

UniSuper chief advice officer Andrew Gregory says digital advice forms a key part of the advice ecosystem at the super fund.

The fund's digital adviser currently covers contributions and investment options, with more features expected in the coming months. Compared to other super funds, such as AustralianSuper for example, UniSuper has been on the front foot and maintains a bullish stance on the offering.

Gregory says UniSuper's service provides members with "simple, accessible" genuine personal advice that lowers persistent barriers to the advice gap.

According to UniSuper's data, most members complete the advice in around seven to 14 minutes, underscoring a low barrier to access affordable advice and beneficial for those with relatively straightforward needs.

"It also gives them the flexibility to engage with us at a time and place that suits them. More than 60% of members who have received an SoA have done so after 5pm or on the weekend," he says.

"This shows that by removing these barriers, we are making it easier for our members to engage with the fund and get the support they need to make informed decisions about their retirement."

Enhancements

When focusing on what it can offer, InvestStream chief executive Jason Hoang says the real capability of digital advice among super funds is to provide instant access to the right information.

Hoang believes the firm's current partnerships with MUFG Retirement Solutions and Australian Food Super will genuinely encourage more Australians to seek financial advice.

"We want to close the advice gap by getting people so engaged that their super app sits next to their banking apps. They're already going to Google and ChatGPT; the app they won't open is the super app. That's what we want to get right," Hoang says.

In the MUFG partnership, Hoang says he aims to leverage the group's extensive network of local super funds to expand its offering progressively.

"Because MUFG powers around 40% of Australia's retirement accounts. If you're a member of a super fund that MUFG administers, the data needed to make guidance genuinely personal already exists. It's just never been connected to the conversation," he enthuses.

The partnership also provides "comfort" to regulators and industry funds that InvestStream is adhering to the standards placed on the domestic retirement sector.

However, he describes implementing innovation in the retirement sector as "extremely difficult" but commends the scrutiny and security in place to protect members' retirement funds.

"Super is a highly regulated industry. The boundaries between general advice, intra-fund advice and full advice matter, and the technology has to understand and operate within those boundaries," Hoang says.

He also highlights that anything involving AI will need to be communicated and analysed across all personnel in a super fund, including the trustee and C-suite executives, to ensure they understand the technology being implemented from top to bottom.

This article is featured in Financial Standard's fortnightly newspaper Volume 24 Number 17. To keep reading click here. To subscribe, sign up here.

Aperio, which has advised families, business owners and young professionals for almost 40 years, has joined Akumin with plans to expand its three-person financial planning division and enhance its client proposition.

It was most recently licensed by ASVW Financial Services.

Aperio was previously licensed under various arrangements, including being self-licensed for about 20 years.

The move follows an extensive review of licensing options undertaken by Aperio earlier this year, with the firm considering five licensees before selecting Akumin.

Akumin chief executive Matt Lawler said Aperio represented the type of advice business the group wanted to partner with, citing its client-first approach, focus on business improvement and leadership from senior financial planner Serhan Asin and proactive manager Jim Gulabovski.

"Jim and Serhan are passionate about guiding their clients through all of their life stages. They are looking to enhance their value proposition to clients and employees, and continue providing great advice to more people," Lawler said.

"We are excited to partner with them to deliver strong client outcomes, drive efficiencies, and grow their business."

Aperio also includes accounting firm Tax Matters and mortgage broking business 123 Loans.

Asin said access to broader business support would allow the practice to focus more heavily on client growth.

"Having a strong partner that can provide business solutions and help drive efficiencies is crucial for freeing us up to spend more time seeing and winning clients," Asin said.

"Akumin understands what we are trying to achieve and the challenges in our business, and they are supporting us to implement our strategy."

Gulabovski said the practice spent much of its history either self-licensed or operating under smaller groups, often managing support functions internally.

"With Akumin, we're supported in every area, including recruitment, paraplanning, technology and marketing, and we couldn't be happier," he said.

Akumin is a subsidiary of Entireti, which also includes Fortnum Private Wealth, Personal Financial Services and Entireti Alliances.

Peterson received a base salary of $825,000 in the 2025 financial year, an increase of $77,000 from the prior corresponding period, the recent Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry heard, which attempted to make sense of why he was generously rewarded amid regulators taking serious action against the company.

Diversa chair Vincent Plant also doubled down on the board's "unanimous" confidence in Peterson and its decision to retain him as chief executive.

The review of Peterson's remuneration happened at two levels, Plant said, first considered by the remuneration committee and then by the board, where it was reviewed again during an in-camera discussion.

Plant could not calculate how much time the board spent discussing Peterson's bonus and remuneration, when pressed by committee chair Deborah O'Neill.

"And that is part of what concerns me. That there will be a lot more from the board going into remuneration of people who are inside than there was in the decision making about putting up [First Guardian] on your platform and putting at risk 2079 Australians," she said. "I'm very concerned about that."

Plant confirmed that Diversa has a general provision in its remuneration policy for clawbacks of bonuses as well as deferrals but decided against using them given Peterson delivered on target key performance indicators.

"He did an excellent job against those objectives, built the business and implemented uplift in several areas of the business at the same time," Plant said.

O'Neill asked if the board has broached any discussions or made any decisions around Peterson's continuing employment and his suitability for the role.

"No," said Plant.

ASIC sets the record straight

Also appearing at the hearing, ASIC set the record straight on the regulator's investigation into Diversa's disclosure of trustee fees and other issues.

This investigation relates to the possible misuse of members' money and the alleged series of undisclosed payments made within the group. This is separate to issues relating to First Guardian.

Diversa general counsel Simon Stanistreet said: "We haven't been able to calculate the quantum because we haven't reached an understanding of what ASIC is actually looking for. We are working with ASIC to understand what falls inside the class."

He went on to reiterate that ASIC "hasn't clearly articulated to us the scope of its inquiry."

"We don't understand specifically which payments fall within and outside the scope of the investigation. We're working with ASIC to clarify that scope so that we can answer its questions. But because it hasn't clarified the scope, we can't ascribe a number to it," he said.

"They're asking about cost-recovery payments. Under a trust deed, a trustee has a general right of indemnity for costs incurred in the proper performance of its duties as trustee, and that's one of the ways we try to keep member fees low."

ASIC executive director for enforcement and compliance Chris Savundra rebuffed these statements, saying Diversa has stalled and procrastinated requests for documents and challenged assertions the management team is being open, transparent, and working in a constructive fashion with the regulator.

"We are compelling production of information, and we've experienced delays in the production of that information. They have sought numerous extensions of time to comply, sometimes after the expiration of timeframes. In our opinion, too, Diversa either narrowly reads or reads down the scope of our notices, which requires us then to do further work, which causes more expense and more delay," Savundra said.

To say that Diversa has been "working constructively" with ASIC and assist in its fact-fining, he said, would be an "overstatement."

At the recent Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry, Diversa's leadership team stood its ground, claiming that the root cause of First Guardian's failure was fraud and that this is the reason why it is seeking a government bailout to make members whole.

Vincent Plant, Diversa's independent director and chair, blamed the financial advisers who recommended the products.

"Diversa had two main responsibilities. The first was to conduct due diligence on First Guardian before adding it to the list of available investments. The second was to monitor First Guardian. Super trustees like Diversa must fulfil these responsibilities in the best interests of members, the people who have their money saved in super," he told the committee panel.

Plant stressed that the liquidator's report into First Guardian "makes it clear that the cause of First Guardian's collapse was fraud by Falcon Capital."

"It wasn't an investment which lost money. It wasn't bad management or bad forecasting; it was fraud. The fraud lay primarily in the dishonest application of First Guardian's assets, but also in the dishonest and ongoing misrepresentation of First Guardian's value. That fraud was perpetrated on individuals who invested in First Guardian," he said.

Committee chair Deborah O'Neill criticised Diversa for not being in the same position as Macquarie and Netwealth, which have already admitted to being "part of the equation of failure and have replaced lost funds immediately."

"It seems to me, Mr. Plant, that you are in a position where Diversa is continuing to deflect responsibility. Clearly, there are structural problems..." she said.

The panel went on to press the management team on how its due diligence in onboarding and monitoring First Guardian differed from Netwealth's and Macquarie's processes.

Rachel Griffith, the general manager of investment oversight, explained Diversa undertook its standard due diligence process in 2020, including consideration of independent research reports from SQM Research, reviews of product disclosure statements, and ongoing annual stress testing.

Diversa, however, did not review First Guardian's constitution before onboarding the product, although she said the document was reviewed after the fund was frozen.

Asked what additional steps Diversa performed beyond reviewing third-party research, Griffiths said the platform had raised questions with the operator regarding the fund's growth and relied on research reports that are widely accepted across the industry.

Committee members challenged the adequacy of those processes, noting that rival platform Netwealth has already acknowledged deficiencies in its due diligence framework relating to First Guardian and questioning why a 50% holding limit was never enforced despite being considered an important safeguard.

"You list it. You let it rip. All profit, no responsibility. That's what it looks like to me," said O'Neill.

The panel dug further into Diversa's governance issues, referring to one APRA-imposed licence condition in 2023 and another one applied last December, relating to investment governance frameworks and practices, including oversight of platform investment options made available to members, particularly around First Guardian.

ASIC is also suing Diversa for nearly $250 million for the First Guardian calamity.

A separate investigation ASIC launched in June into Diversa alleged over the possible misuse of members' money and a series of undisclosed payments to the group.

Committee member Paul Scarr asked Plant: "What confidence can members have that their funds are safe with Diversa as a trustee?

Plant replied: "Well, they should have a high level of confidence because of the degree to which we are actually looking after our members' funds."

O'Neill cut off Plant, saying: "You're going to say that sentence in all honesty, why then are you fighting so hard against justice for the victims of First Guardian and providing them, returning them their money?"

"If you want people to trust you, money is going to talk in this situation, Mr. Plant, and you guys seem to be hanging on to it pretty tightly for yourselves, and not giving it to the people who have suffered a great loss because of your failure of onboarding, governance, and asking the questions to get the transparency necessary to see what was going on inside First Guardian," she said.

Plant said, "no one can predict fraud in advance" and that they are "not clairvoyants".

"That's why the SIS Act has a specific provision to say that in cases of fraud, there is protection for members, and that's what we're applying to the minister to protect the members," Plant said.

"Which means," O'Neill retorted, "Diversa wants taxpayers to bail you out for a failure of your processes, which have so far caught you up in the ASIC net to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars, and have got imposed conditions on your licence from APRA."

RIAA's survey spoke with Australian-based individual financial adviser members and advisory groups to capture practical, client-facing insights into the sustainable investment product labelling regime.

RIAA membership and engagement manager Ethan Kusch noted the research found advisers play an important role in helping ascertain the right labelling regime as they see how real people understand sustainability concepts, how products align with those expectations, and how greenwashing manifests in practice.

"Financial advisers sit as an absolute key piece to that, connecting mum and dad investors, high net worth individuals, family offices with places to use capital," Kusch said.

Earlier in the year, Treasury opened a consultation on the labelling of sustainable financial products, with a particular focus on retail offerings. It covered the scope of the labelling system, disclosures, thresholds for labelling, and certain requirements.

The majority of advisers strongly supported restrictions on sustainability-related product labels, noting they would find it helpful for certain terms to be restricted or requiring criteria, particularly labels like "sustainable" and "impact", which advisers believe should require specific standards to use.

However, advisers emphasised while clarity and guardrails are essential, a labelling regime that is too restrictive could discourage product innovation and stressed that the system must be practical for consumers and advisers.

The main challenges advisers highlighted were lack of standardised definitions, poor disclosure practices, misleading product names, products not matching client preferences and insufficient reporting.

"Clearly, trust is an issue when it comes to being able to have confidence that a product that's being recommended is true to label," Kusch said.

He also highlighted advisers are approaching responsible investment differently, where some firms have built dedicated capabilities and frameworks, others are still working out where responsible investment fits into client conversations.

"You've got established firms that might have 50 or more advisers... You might be seeing those firms building out structured education in their responsible investment capability for their advisers," he said.

"It might be an individual adviser that's running their own practice [and] naturally advice is client-led, so where you've got the demand, you've probably got more impetus to go out and seek it yourself."

The expansion is part of the advice firm's strategy to expand its national footprint, while integrating its advice capacity with professional services such as accounting.

Earlier in the year, it also merged with Lighthouse Capital Southwest, based in Bunbury, a regional city south of Perth.

As part of the merger, Coastline Private Wealth directors Alastair Fink and Joel Sharp will join Integro, along with their team. They will move into the Integro offices from November 1.

Integro Private Wealth managing partner Justin Gilmour said the merger will bring scale to two high-performing quality businesses.

"Coastline has built a strong business with a clear focus on its clients and the communities it serves. There is already significant value in what the Coastline team has created, and our role is to amplify it," Gilmour said.

Integro will also create a specialist risk division, to ready clients for challenges ahead, including regulatory changes.

"While many firms are stepping back from risk advice, we see a real opportunity to invest in and expand this capability. Risk advice remains an important part of a holistic wealth strategy, and the addition of Coastline's expertise will allow us to strengthen our offering and provide greater support to clients across this area," Gilmour said.

"Coastline Private Wealth has always been strong in this area, and the merger will mean their industry leading expertise is available to all Integro clients."

Fink said Integro shares Coastline Private Wealth's philosophy of providing the best service and building a long-term business, making the merger a natural fit.

"Joining forces gives us the opportunity to retain the things that have made Coastline successful, while providing our clients and team with access to greater resources, expertise and opportunities. It's about building on what we have already achieved, not starting again," Fink said.

Sharp added the merger will open new opportunities for Coastline clients.

"For our team, this opens more opportunities to collaborate, develop and broaden what we can offer clients. We believe we are stronger together and that this will ultimately deliver a better proposition for our clients," Sharp said.

Earlier this year, Integro also brought on a new head of advice for the East Coast, with a focus on growing the firm both organically and through acquisition across different states.

WT Financial managing director Keith Cullen said advice practices increasingly need access to scalable specialist capabilities, including high-quality outsourced services as an alternative to adding fixed internal resources.

"TNT is a very good example of our partnership philosophy in action and of the broader ecosystem of capabilities we intend to build around the advice practices we support," Cullen said.

WT Financial has over 500 advisers across a nation-wide network of privately-owned practices, operating as authorised representatives under Wealth Today, Sentry Advice, Synchron Advice, and Millennium3 subsidiaries.

Cullen added WT Financial expects demand for flexible outsourced paraplanning capacity to increase as advice practices seek to grow and scale their operations.

"For many years, parts of the paraplanning industry have been engaged in a race to the bottom on price, often accompanied by declining quality and increasing reliance on offshore document production," Cullen said.

"Emerging technologies are turning that model on its head and creating a race to the top - in quality, efficiency, responsiveness and turnaround times."

TNT's founders, Tamara Morey and Tanya Higgins, together with chief executive Dela Dzadey, will collectively retain 30% and remain actively involved in the business.

TNT will retain its identity while the partnership will provide it with additional resources to expand its experienced Australian paraplanner base, invest in technology and workflow capability, and support more advice practices as they scale.

"Our shared ambition is to support Dela, Tanya, Tamara and their team in building TNT into Australia's preeminent, genuinely world-class paraplanning service - combining exceptional people, exceptional technology and exceptional service," Cullen said.

TNT co-founder Tamara Morey said the partnership would allow TNT to pursue its growth ambitions while preserving the qualities that had underpinned its success.

"Tanya, Dela and I are incredibly proud of the business and team we have built, and it was very important to us that the next stage of TNT's growth built on those foundations," Morey said.

"Partnering with WTL provides access to additional capital, technology capability and a broader market, while allowing TNT to remain TNT - focused on our people, our clients and providing exceptional Australian-based paraplanning."

Morey added TNT's approach to technology would remain centred on enhancing the capability of experienced paraplanners rather than replacing them.

"We don't see technology replacing great paraplanners. We see it making great paraplanners even better. The real value of an experienced paraplanner is their technical knowledge, judgement and ability to understand an adviser's strategy and act as a genuine second chair," Morey said.

"As automation and AI remove more of the repetitive document production, formatting and checking work, our people can spend more time applying those higher-value skills - while delivering better quality, consistency and turnaround times for our clients."

Perhaps a fund manager is underperforming or a stock held directly by clients needs to be sold.

In the past, advisers would often have to wait until their next meeting with the client to sign off on changes, Townsend Cobain adviser and founding partner Tim Townsend says.

"The issue became that very often you might make a decision to make a change to the client portfolios, but you might not be meeting with that client for another six months," he says.

"And so, the actual implementation of what was potentially good advice would have to wait until the next meeting or review with the client."

If the change was urgent, the adviser might start ringing clients to seek permission. Townsend wonders how many clients an adviser could actually get through in a day. Maybe 10? Maximum 20?

"Now, if you're looking after 100 clients, what's just happened to the other 80?" Townsend asks.

"As an adviser - someone who cares deeply for the interests of your client and wants the best for your clients - you get to go home that night, put your head on the pillow, knowing you have just left 80% of your clients out in no man's land."

Managed accounts technology solves exactly that.

A managed account is a structure that sits on platforms such as HUB24 or Netwealth, where model portfolios are available. An adviser can pick ready-made portfolios or choose to work with an investment manager to customise the portfolios according to their clients' needs.

The investment manager makes strategic decisions on changes to the portfolio, then instructs the platform to execute that rebalance across all client portfolios at the same time.

The adviser no longer needs to call every client and one decision now reaches every portfolio at once.

Townsend says clients sign off upfront on the adviser's ability to make and implement decisions as needed.

"What we do is we ensure the client is told as soon as that change is being made, they're told about it straight away," he says.

Along with allowing clients to receive the best advice without delay, Townsend adds the technology has helped treat all clients equally.

"Whether or not we were managing multi-million dollars of assets in our client portfolio, or somebody that had a smaller balance, they received equal investment service as a result of the managed account structures," he says.

The Institute of Managed Account Professionals (IMAP) data shows funds under management in managed accounts grew by $60.2 billion over the past year to reach close to $300 billion at the end of December 2025.

Adviser adoption is also becoming mainstream, with the latest Investment Trends research showing 61% of advisers in Australia are already using managed accounts, and another 13% considering doing so.

Managed accounts are essentially wrappers under which a client's money can be invested either through managed funds, where the client owns a unit in a pooled fund, or through direct securities owned by the client themselves.

For example, Townsend Cobain has 65% of its clients' investments in managed funds and 35% held in direct ownership, both sitting under the managed accounts wrapper.

Speaking at a recent industry event, Generation Development Group (GDG) chief executive Grant Hackett also points to the tax advantage for direct assets sitting under managed accounts.

"If you're buying into a unitised structure, you're normally buying into an embedded tax liability," Hackett says.

Where a managed account holds direct securities, the investor receives their own cost base from the day they invest and avoids inheriting embedded capital gains from other investors - a level of tax control not possible in a pooled managed fund.

GDG's own dealmaking illustrates how quickly the sector is consolidating. The group acquired Lonsec Group and later Evidentia in the last two years, bringing the two established managed account businesses under the Evidentia Group banner.

With $40.5 billion in funds under management, Evidentia Group is one of Australia's leading managed account providers.

Evidentia operates three distinct brands. Lonsec Investment Solutions provides ready-made, off-the-shelf portfolios that advisers can select from platform menus. Evidentia Private builds personalised portfolios tailored to an advice practice's client base. Implemented Portfolios goes further again, offering individualisation down to the level of a specific client.

Evidentia Group chief executive Michael Wright says managed accounts have moved from being a niche implementation tool to the default operating model for modern advice businesses.

The market is now maturing, he notes, beyond off-the-shelf ready-made portfolios towards customisation.

"What's happening is increasingly advisers want tailored solutions aligned to their own investment philosophy, client segmentation and advice process," Wright says.

At Zenith Investment Partners, customised portfolios now account for 90% of the almost $7 billion it manages through managed accounts, head of portfolio solutions Andrew Yap says. The remaining 10% sits in traditional off-the-shelf public menus.

Yap notes advice and dealer groups increasingly look to build portfolios that are fit for purpose for their practices and match client priorities - whether that means responsible investment, sustainable or low-cost options.

He adds the biggest reason driving customisation is clients' desire to have greater control over how assets are directed.

"You might go into an industry super fund, but what if you have a true belief in value-oriented investments, or you want sustainable investments or growth-oriented? You might be marginalised in terms of your investable menu or your choice there, so you can't reflect those views," Yap says.

"As people start to accumulate broader wealth, many start to say, 'Well, maybe I want to go to a self-managed super fund (SMSF), or I want to go to an advice practice that can really tailor a plan which is purpose-built for my personal situation and circumstances'."

Hackett adds tailored portfolios have now become more democratised, with the scale needed to justify an advice practice running its own managed account falling sharply.

"It was probably north of $300 million to $400 million initially that you really needed to make sense to have your own managed account and really roll that out for your client base. But now that could be as low as $50 million to $100 million, or even less in some circumstances," he says.

Since GDG acquired Evidentia, Hackett says, the business has added another 22 clients in just over 12 months.

As the industry moves further towards tailored portfolios, Wright adds that clients, platforms, responsible entities, and regulators all expect investment managers to have institutional-grade operating capability and technology to support the scale.

"Five, 10 years ago, the technology requirement was more on the platforms, being able to execute managed accounts," Wright says.

"But it's changed significantly and there is a big reason... You simply cannot deliver tailored managed accounts at scale without sophisticated technology as an investment manager.

"What the technology allows you to do is automated portfolio rebalancing. It allows you to do efficient trade instructions to the platforms. It allows you to do risk monitoring, governance oversight, tax management and reporting."

The demand for institutional-grade capability has drawn a new type of player into the market: firms that have traditionally served institutional clients are now moving into the wealth market.

Asset consultant JANA Investment Advisers recently created the role of general manager of wealth, appointing Zac Leman, who previously ran managed accounts at BT Financial Group.

JANA says the appointment reflects growth in the wealth business, with total wealth client funds under management reaching $15 billion, including more than $3.4 billion in managed accounts.

"If you think about what JANA's business has been traditionally, it's very much institutional consulting. About five years ago, JANA put a strategy forward to see what we do in the institutional world could translate into wealth," Leman says.

Leman notes JANA works with mid- to top-tier advice licensees, consulting on their investment committees and building portfolios that they can take out to their clients. He adds JANA can also help advisers leverage its institutional presence when engaging fund managers to help drive better fee outcomes.

"We can work with them to build something bespoke, bottom up from scratch, an investment strategy or an investment program for their business," he says.

"Or if they've already got an investment program, then we can look at that. We can evolve and strengthen the governance and structural oversight."

The rapid growth and industrialisation of advice through managed accounts is also drawing the corporate regulator's attention to the governance of what is being offered to retail clients.

Managed accounts operate under two legal structures: separately managed accounts (SMAs) and managed discretionary accounts (MDAs).

SMAs are the structure most widely used for retail clients, with IMAP data showing that around 64% of managed account funds under management sit within them.

An SMA is a registered managed investment scheme requiring a responsible entity, which is the legal owner and product issuer, while the client remains the beneficial owner.

MDAs are unregistered schemes and offer greater flexibility, typically for high-net-worth clients.

Late last year, ASIC sent out notices to advice licensees and SMA providers seeking information on governance frameworks and the management of conflicts of interest.

The regulator wants to understand how the relationship between advice licensees and SMA providers works, with specific requests for contracts and correspondence between the two.

At issue is whether advisers and licensee groups face any incentive - such as sales targets, inducements or revenue - to recommend particular SMAs, especially where the product is run by the licensee's own related entity.

This article is featured in Financial Standard's fortnightly newspaper  Volume 24 Edition 16. To keep reading click here. To subscribe, sign up here.

The reforms will help Australians access advice via their super fund.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said the measures will be subject to a review three years after commencement to evaluate the scope and operation of the reforms.

"We don't agree with it being restricted now, we accept that that is the government's direction, but we'll be advocating very strongly for that to come off in three years' time," FAAA chief executive Sarah Abood said.

Abood added the industry needs to be very careful about the scope of the New Class of Adviser and how consumers will be charged. She added it is important to ensure the New Class does not impact the services provided by advisers.

"Let's not forget what it's called. Our members have been very clear that the word advice should not appear in the name of this New Class. We're very, very focused on that," she said.

"The minister also is on record saying that the services that this new class will provide will not impinge on the services provided by comprehensive advisers...we will hold the minister to that. That is a really important control."

FAAA general manager, policy, advocacy and standards Phil Anderson, who retires on November 27, added the New Class of Adviser is one of the most contentious parts of the DBFO reforms.

"It was initially proposed to be very tightly scoped and limited to entities where it wasn't necessary to charge a fee. But the government, over time, before we ran into the complication of Shield and First Guardian, had agreed as the result of a lot of advocacy to extend it to include advice practices and allow them to be able to charge for that," Anderson said.

"Now that seems not to be the position that they've taken at this point, but they have committed to reviewing it in three years' time, and we will be advocating very strongly to make sure that any opportunity that's available to super funds and life insurers should also be available to financial advisers."

Sequoia did not name which company it has been engaging with for the potential sale.

"This process is at an early stage, and Sequoia will continue to keep the market informed of events concerning the sale process in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations," it said.

This comes after Sequoia's deal to sell InterPrac to Conquest was left in the air. In early August, ASIC withdrew legal proceedings against Sequoia after it entered an undertaking not to put the Cross Deed of Guarantee at risk tied to the sale of InterPrac Financial Planning, however the group remained coy about the deal with Conquest Investment Management was going ahead.

A spokesperson for Sequoia confirmed options for InterPrac were still being considered at the time, but declined to comment if the development with ASIC meant discussions to offload InterPrac to Conquest were back on.

On May 1, following ASIC's concerns over the divestment of InterPrac, Sequoia said developments subsequent to signing the share sale agreement "had resulted in circumstances where completion cannot occur on terms consistent with those originally contemplated by the parties."

On July 30, however, the Federal Court granted ASIC leave to discontinue its proceedings that commenced in April, when the regulator sought the appointment of receivers to investigate the validity of the sale of InterPrac to Conquest Investment Management.

At the heart of it was the Cross Deed of Guarantee, to which Sequoia, InterPrac and other related entities were party. ASIC also sought to investigate whether the sale was bona fide and the consideration price of $50,000 was fair and reasonable.

On 25 May 2022, Sequoia Financial, Sequoia Wealth and InterPrac entered into a Deed of Cross Guarantee, meaning each entity guaranteed the debts of its each sister companies in the event of a winding up on certain grounds.

Successfully offloading InterPrac to Conquest without the regulator's intervention would have seen the Sequoia group of entities divest itself of liabilities stemming from the Shield and First Guardian master fund collapses.

According to Russell Investments' annual Value of an Adviser Report, which surveyed almost 1000 Australians, the value of advisers continued to grow when it comes to improving outcomes for its clients.

Specifically, 83% are 'very' or 'extremely' confident about achieving their financial goals after receiving advice, compared with 41% before advice. This also came at a time where advice fees have risen from $4572 to $5235, but 90% rated their adviser as 'good' or 'excellent' value, up from 84% in the year before.

The value of advice is also represented by the surge in client satisfaction, with 33% rating their adviser a full mark (10/10), despite the heightened cost of seeking advice.

Honeycomb Strategy head of client service Jason Morris said this is the "perfect encapsulation" of what consumers are thinking about when it comes to financial advice.

"Clients are paying more for advice compared to last year. However, that hasn't cased a downturn in satisfaction," Morris said.

"People are happier than ever with advisers, and to complement that uplift, the strongest for the growth came from Baby Boomers and the second highest uplift was amongst Gen Z.

"What's quite encouraging is that satisfaction is growing, but it's also not isolated just to one pocket of the market... It's also working for the new generation."

Similar to last year's findings, trust remains the most important attribute for a client seeking advice.

Russell Investments head of distribution Australia and New Zealand Neil Rogan said trust will underpin the consideration of a client's surroundings including their family, lifestyle, and financial future to be able to make appropriate decisions at appropriate points in time.

"Having a trusted relationship becomes critical now to the whole advice equation," he said.

"The firms best positioned for the future will combine exceptional human advice with scalable delivery models, giving advisers more time to build trust, apply judgement and help clients answer the question: 'Am I going to be okay?'"

Morris echoed Rogan's statement, saying trust is increasingly becoming a key factor.

"[Trust] is an all-encompassing factor that accounts for the quality of interactions and the frequency of those interactions," Morris added.

Meanwhile, advisers continue to struggle to deliver personalised advice at scale, as 62% of advisers face challenges to do so.

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has helped implemented better efficiency for advisers, but it also presented as a potential obstacle as clients are increasingly using AI for advice.

However, the report found the increasing utilisation of AI is not reducing advice demand as 26% of non-advised investors say AI is more likely to make them seek professional advice.

Morris said the personalisation through human interaction still edges over AI.

"You can find advice online, and you can customise your query in ChatGPT or Claude to be about your own circumstance, depending on your level of openness, providing personal information. But it's not going to be as personalised as you could get from an adviser, where that trust element will come in," Morris said.

"[Advisers] are not just running numbers; they're making an informed judgment and applying a discerning lens to one situation.

"I think that's the thing AI will never be able to perfectly replace. There can be some signals to be a bit more personalised, but again, that is something that only a human-to-human interaction can create."

He reiterated the importance for advisers to be selective with the tools available to deliver personalisation at scale.

The FS Power50 recognises advisers who demonstrate leadership and influence within the financial advice profession while making a meaningful contribution to their clients, industry and wider communities.

Advisers on the shortlist include those who have received industry recognition, support their local advice communities, contribute to charitable initiatives, advocate for the value of financial advice and use media and digital platforms to improve financial literacy and awareness.

Financial Standard and FS Advice, The Australian Journal of Financial Planning are inviting readers to vote for the advisers they believe best present the values of the Power50 through their leadership, influence, advocacy and contributions to the profession.

The annual list aims to highlight advisers who are helping shape the future of financial advice in Australia, whether through their work with clients, industry associations, community organisations or broader public engagement.

The Power50 can include successful advice business owners, award winners, mentors, educators and advisers who have developed a strong public profile through traditional and social media.

The 122 shortlisted advisers will now progress through the voting process, with voting open until 3 September 2026 at 5pm.

The final Power50 will recognise the 50 advisers who received the strongest support through the voting process and subsequently pass Financial Standard's editorial vetting process.

Readers can cast their vote for the advisers they believe have made the strongest contribution to financial advice and demonstrated leadership across the profession, their communities and the broader Australian public.

Justice Beach on August 13 ordered InterPrac to pay the sums, which were calculated based on determinations set by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), in a holding account with the Federal Court.

Melinda Kee lost $380,000 of her retirement savings when she invested it in First Guardian, prompted by the now-defunct lead generator Aus Super Compare.

For Kee's portion, Justice Beach's order compelled InterPrac to pay $368,903.11 and legal costs of $3500 to the court's bank account.

Danielle Adams, who was also invested in First Guardian, will have the amount of $91,178.10 in addition to $2000 in legal fees incurred paid into the court's account.

In May, InterPrac targeted Kee when she became a defendant in the lawsuit against AFCA.

The fate of the money will not be known until the outcome of this lawsuit, in which InterPrac argued the complaints body did not treat it fairly amid the fallout of the failed managed investment scheme.

Kee told Financial Standard: "It's pleasing to know that the money will be in a secure account held with the Federal Court until trial, which I have just been advised this morning that the date has been pushed out from October 19 to 15 and 16 February 2027."

"We know that the money is safe, provided that AFCA wins the court case. The money will then go to our superannuation accounts," she said.

Kee went on to say that upon a successful court outcome in February 2027 or a successful determination in the case between InterPrac and AFCA, her advocacy for fellow victims will still go on.

Kee spearheads the SOS Save Our Super website, an advocacy group that is fighting for justice for victims. She is also part of the First Guardian and Falcon Superannuation Discussion group on Facebook that currently has about 2000 members, most of whom are in the process of recovering or have recovered their money.

"It's important that people stay and keep advocating with us. I don't want people to think that I'm going anywhere once my case settles," she said.

Recourse for many victims, however, has been long and tiresome while others who were part of the Netwealth and Macquarie platforms have been made whole.

"Every additional month represents another month without retirement savings. Another month without the investment earnings those savings should have been generating. Another month of uncertainty for people approaching or already in retirement," Kee added.

"And another month of emotional and financial pressure on families who have already endured far too much."

ASIC recently withdrew legal proceedings against Sequoia after it entered an undertaking not to put the Cross Deed of Guarantee at risk tied to the sale of InterPrac Financial Planning.

The group remains coy about whether the deal with Conquest Investment Management going ahead.

A spokesperson for Sequoia confirmed options for InterPrac are still being considered but declined to comment if the development with ASIC meant discussions to offload InterPrac to Conquest were back on.

On May 1, following ASIC's concerns over the divestment of InterPrac, Sequoia said developments subsequent to signing the share sale agreement "had resulted in circumstances where completion cannot occur on terms consistent with those originally contemplated by the parties."

Garry Crole exited the beleaguered group in July as chief executive.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the monies have been paid to the victims.

Established in 2013 between Frontier Advisors and Segal Rogerscasey, which later rebranded to Segal Marco Advisors, the partnership supported the sharing of investment manager research across regions. LCP was admitted as a third member in 2014.

The alliance enabled cooperation and global perspective sharing between the firms.

"Research shared between the alliance partners was used as an additional input to each firm's assessment processes, rather than replacing each firm's own research, due diligence and judgement in assessing fund managers," Frontier Advisers said.

"This recognised the need for manager evaluation to take account of local client needs, regulatory settings, market structures and other regional nuances. The firms also collaborated on sharing market insights and regional perspectives via regular investment committee meetings."

However, in recent years, the partners had begun to review the ongoing role the alliance could play as each firm developed new ways to access and assess investment managers around the world, while also independently pursuing their own business strategies and international reach.

The firms also cited advances in technology, data access and remote meeting capabilities making it easier for their teams to engage directly with managers globally, reducing the need for formal research exchange arrangements such as GIRA.

"The collaboration that has taken place through GIRA, even including exchanges of staff between our firms, has been incredibly additive" LCP head of investments Zuhair Mohammed said.

"GIRA has been an important element of LCP's international growth and investment capabilities which we are continuing to develop in line with our evolving strategic needs."

Segal Marco Advisers chief executive John DeMairo added: "We are proud of our founding role in what was an innovative alliance reflecting a common commitment to independent thinking and global manager research."

"We thank Frontier and LCP for their partnership over this time."

The NCAs will be limited to APRA-regulated superannuation funds and life insurers and supported by "strong safeguards against vertical integration through prohibitions on commissions, bonuses and volume-based payments," he told the National Press Club today.

"We will review the scope of the New Class of Adviser in three years to determine how it is going and whether we should expand it further."

The government will also reform the best interests duty to support the provision of scaled advice and confirmed a review of the Financial Adviser Code of Ethics.

The minister said the reforms were designed to address the reality that millions of Australians need assistance navigating retirement without facing prohibitive advice costs.

Mulino will also legislate an obligation for superannuation trustees to implement and enforce advice fee deduction caps for members.

He acknowledged concerns raised by regulators about poor conduct and consumer harm arising from inappropriate advice practices.

Referencing ASIC's recent work on advice fee deductions, Mulino said the regulator had uncovered serious governance failures, including excessive fees charged to consumers with low account balances for switching-related advice.

"ASIC's ongoing work, and our reforms to SMSF reporting, will dovetail to provide better visibility of advice fee deductions across the ecosystem, and greater assurance that members balances are not being eroded by unreasonable and inappropriate deductions," he said.

Fairer funding for CSLR, SMSFs roped in

To guarantee the sustainability of the CSLR, Mulino will limit compensation to actual investment losses rather than hypothetical losses for applications made to AFCA after June 30 of next year.

The government will apply the waterfall model outlined in a recent consultation to the $170.3 million special levy attributed to the financial advice subsector for the 2026-27 financial year.

"But applying the waterfall model doesn't mean that sub-sectors are automatically going to pay their maximum cap," he said.

"The legislation requires me to consider the viability of affected sectors and the broader interests of the financial system. That is exactly what Treasury is analysing now, in consultation with stakeholders, before I make any final decision."

Singling out the financial adviser sector, Mulino said he recognises it is made up largely of small businesses and knows "the immense value they provide to Australians" and heard the concerns they have raised throughout this process.

Mulino noted he is "committed to working with the sector to ensure we arrive at an outcome that is sustainable, proportionate and fit for purpose."

Incidentally, the SMSF sector can expect to contribute to the levy going forward.

"This is a balanced approach under which it is estimated that individual SMSFs are likely to contribute no more than $20 per leviable period, which an overall sector levy scaled according to the relative size of SMSF population assets compared to APRA-regulated sector assets," he said.

"Alternative models, including excluding SMSFs from the scheme altogether, would have created significant gaps in consumer protection while adding complexity and administrative costs.

"We will strengthen accountability, remove practices that serve no useful purpose, formalise standards that responsible actors already have in place, and support more efficient allocation of capital across the economy through improving market integrity and consumer confidence."

Furthermore, Mulino said the CSLR was not designed to absorb the costs associated with large scale investment losses linked to personal advice failures and that "the quantum of those losses is simply too large."

"We are ensuring that compensation is delivered earlier and by parties more directly connected to the conduct that caused the harm, and that is the purpose of the trustee remediation reforms I announced earlier," he said.

"But even with stronger consumer protections and stronger remediation arrangements, there will still be circumstances where consumers need a genuine safety net."

The proposed changes comprise two out of three major reforms Labor hopes will better protect consumers via the superannuation system and financial advice.

Minister for financial services Daniel Mulino announced three core reforms, one of which will stem "harmful lead generation" that largely emanates via social media, online advertisements or cold calling.

Unlicensed real-time communication pertaining to superannuation will be banned, while tougher anti-hawking laws are set to improve consent requirements.

Licensees will also be required to take reasonable steps to ensure lead generation activities comply with relevant regulatory and legal requirements.

Mulino will also tighten the existing anti-hawking laws that have exempted financial advisers, flagging this will soon be limited to existing client relationships.

He said the government is looking to strengthen anti-hawking protections by limiting the existing exemption for financial advisers to existing client relationships, flagging further consultation is needed on what "targeted exemptions" looks like. This is in the form of protection advocacy, educational and employment communications.

This is also to ensure "low-risk arrangements" and necessary contact with family members and third parties of existing clients are protected.

The change effectively closes a loophole the financial advice sector has enjoyed. Currently, the Corporations Act bans the unsolicited offer of a financial product to a consumer. Several exceptions apply, including offers made while providing personal advice to the consumer by a person who is required to act in the consumer's best interests.

Treasury previously stated this exemption has been used by lead generation and referral models, which rely on the cold calling approach to be "cleansed" by transitioning from the initial marketing or lead generation activity into providing personal advice.

This means unsolicited contact may be "cleansed" when a financial adviser engages with a consumer who was hawked by a third party, such as a lead generator.

This was the bedrock in which AusCompare, the lead generator the Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund that is now in liquidation, relied upon to funnel clients into the MISs.

Mulino also warned of tougher penalties for breaches of anti-hawking laws.

The government will further crackdown on data collection and broking activities in the financial sector that often represent consumers' first point of contact.

"These reforms are designed to disrupt some of the most damaging business models operating in the system today," Mulino told the National Press Club today.

"They target the point at which consumers are first exposed to harm and reduce the ability of bad actors to gain access to consumers in the first place. We will make the financial system safer by strengthening protections across the superannuation, advice and investment ecosystem."

New remits for ASIC, APRA and ATO

Regulators APRA and ASIC will be bestowed with new powers in a bid to curb another Shield and First Guardian disaster.

Mulino proposed a new framework empowering ASIC to direct superannuation trustees to commence remediation where an investment option fails and there is "reasonable suspicion" that a trustee has breached its obligations.

In cases where a trustee is found to have failed its duties, members would be entitled to compensation for their full capital losses.

Mulino described the proposal as a "significant structural reform" designed to provide members with a clearer pathway to compensation.

"We will also give APRA the power to set capital requirements to ensure superannuation trustees that offer higher-risk options have the financial capacity to meet those obligations," he said.

"These reforms will encourage stronger investment governance and reinforce APRA's ongoing work to address weaknesses in investment governance practices.

"We will also strengthen penalties under the Superannuation Industry Supervisory Act, sending a clear signal that members deserve security, transparency and accountability from those entrusted with their retirement savings."

Furthermore, MIS providers can expect tougher restrictions on how they operate and govern their products, starting with stronger audit and assurance requirements.

MISs will be forced to notify ASIC when they freeze, suspend or otherwise restrict investors' ability to redeem their investments.

Mulino said the measures, combined with additional funding provided to ASIC in the recent Budget will improve transparency and accountability while giving regulators greater visibility over emerging risks.

"Importantly, they will help regulators identify concerning flows of consumers and capital into high-risk products at a much earlier stage and intervene before problems become widespread consumer harm," he said.

As part of the reform package, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will receive a new power to prevent rollovers into SMSFs where there is a "well-founded suspicion of consumer harm."

Data-sharing arrangements between ASIC and the ATO will also be expanded to help regulators detect concerning rollover activity earlier.

The government will further require SMSFs to maintain uniquely identifiable bank accounts, introduce minimum trustee knowledge requirements and increase transparency around the role of financial advisers.

Under the changes, newly established SMSFs will be required to disclose any adviser involved in setting up the fund, while annual financial statements will include a dedicated line item detailing advice fees deducted during the year.

Mulino said the measures were intended to target harmful conduct rather than increase compliance burdens for trustees managing their retirement savings responsibly.

"For the vast majority of trustees, they reflect practices already in place, allowing us to better identify at-risk consumers and interrupt harmful practices," he said.

Additionally, the government will align the collection of the first SMSF supervisory levy with fund establishment and increase the levy for the first time since 2013 to ensure the ATO is adequately resourced to engage with new trustees and address emerging risks.

Founded by three former Russell Investments directors Divyesh Bhana, Jonathan Ng, and John Venardos, BNV Investment Partners will focus on offering investment governance and bespoke services to assist licensees amid heightened scrutiny as a result of recent managed investment schemes failure.

Speaking to Financial Standard, Bhana said the collapses of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds reflected the immediate need for an institutionalised level of governance in the industry and licensees should no longer wait to formalise the relevant framework.

However, especially among smaller practices, Bhana understands the constraints and limits these licensees currently struggle with due to their unique characteristics.

"They don't have the dedicated investment or governance expertise and/or the financial capacity to hire a full-time resource to do this... rather than hiring a full-time resource, we'll work with them to help set up their governance framework so that it's more manageable," Bhana said.

"What a licensee still needs to be able to do is exercise their independence, but [our service] gives them the foundations they need to ensure that they can scale without concern."

Meanwhile, Ng believes the current research houses model contains a huge loophole around conflicts of interest and highlighted there's been an "over reliance" on rating reports provided by them.

"We are going to try to change that dynamic," he said.

"In the institutional world it is usually the client that pays the consultant to do the research, and we're trying to empower financial advisers to conduct due diligence by giving them a framework that is risk based.

"Depending on what the scoring out of that may be, it would be escalated to their investment committee or a third party like us to do the research."

The firm can also provide "deep dive" analysis and due diligence services of specific investment products, Ng added, while reiterating the industry may have underestimated the importance of enforcing a comprehensive governance structure.

"I'd say a lot of them probably have not been conscious of [implementing comprehensive investment governance]," Ng said.

"I think a lot of people would think, 'well, nothing's major has blown up in my practice; everything's fine, and therefore I don't need to change', whereas others are slowly realising the change."

Bhana echoed the sentiment, stating two themes stood out when engaging with the licensees, and those are everyone intends to do the "right thing" and make sure they have the appropriate structure in place.

"It's not a question about whether they have any governance. Smaller licensees tend to have less formalised governance frameworks as what you would expect from an institutional point of view and that's the area we're trying to improve," he said.

"We're trying to help them put in place more rigor around decision making and the way they think about their governance approach."

Bhana also believes the consolidation of the industry, as well as the rapid adoption of managed accounts have supercharged the demand for his offering.

Moving forward, Bhana said BNV Investment Partners will continue to consult with regulators, potential clients, and other related parties to navigate and explore future developments and opportunities.

Speaking following the release of Iress' first-half results, chief executive Andrew Russell said the company has embarked on the third phase of its transformation agenda after completing the simplification phase, which involved divesting non-core businesses to focus on trading and wealth.

"We now have ambitions to be a world-class software technology business," he told Financial Standard.

"The third stage is turning our minds to evolving our product sets across both business lines. AI and agentic platforms are such a pivotal development, and they'll be a big part of that evolution."

The APAC wealth unit, which provides financial advice software and related tools to the advice and superannuation industries in Australia, as well as the broader APAC region, reported a 4% rise in revenue to $68.2 million.

Updating on Iress' partnership with Thoughtworks and its plans for Xplan, Russell said work is focused on making the platform faster and improving overall performance.

"We've got some tactical improvements coming that advisers will notice, particularly around the look and feel and the modernisation of the client portal. We're also making technical improvements to workflows and bringing AI into those processes to drive productivity gains across the advice workflow," he said.

Russell said advisers' increasing workloads are driving Xplan's process and technology uplift.

"We're trying to improve adviser productivity. If providing advice, including meeting with a client, completing the fact-find and delivering advice, currently takes eight hours, we're going to use technology to try to reduce that to five hours. That's a material productivity improvement," he said.

The group appointed a new UK-based chief technology officer in March, who is strengthening Xplan's modernisation program, with particular emphasis on improving user experience while preserving the depth and flexibility required for complex advice.

The global trading and market data (GTMD) unit, which generated half of total revenue, reported a top line of $125.3 million, which was stable year-on-year.

The UK wealth and sourcing business saw a 7% year-on-year decline in revenue to $53.5 million.

Rather than rushing AI products to market, Russell said Iress is taking a measured approach focused on reliability, compliance and integration within existing workflows.

Russell is cognisant of the abundance of AI tools in the marketplace and the fact that many technology-forward firms are experimenting with them.

"What we're hearing from customers is that they'd love to see the Iress platform, which is rock-solid from a compliance, functionality and quality perspective, provide those capabilities directly across their workflows," he said.

"Our view is we don't need to be first; we just need to be better."

The average number of clients per practice has increased from 127 to 135 over the past year, the newly released Future of Advice 2026 report showed.

Advisers who were early adopters of technology managed 13% more clients than their peers or 147 compared to 130 clients for non-early adopters of artificial intelligence (AI).

CoreData found advice businesses are becoming increasingly differentiated by how they adopt technology and integrate digital tools into their operations.

Fee increases have continued year-on-year, reflecting strong demand for financial advice and the ability of practices to grow client numbers despite ongoing workforce constraints, the survey found.

Licensee satisfaction also reached a record high, with 84% of advisers reporting they are satisfied with their licensee.

CoreData said satisfaction has continued to trend higher, well above the 66% recorded in 2023.

Advisers credited proactive support, a strong business development focus and a sense of community as key attributes of high-performing licensees.

One adviser said their licensee delivered "a high standard of support with significant flexibility" that enabled them to run a successful business, citing quality research, daily meetings, accessible compliance teams and support for innovations, such as AI and Microsoft Copilot.

Another adviser praised the "sense of care and accountability from senior management to frontline staff", alongside strong technical capability and in-house investment support.

The report found growth-oriented advisers consistently rated their licensees more highly than their peers, particularly in areas such as advice quality, business support and operational assistance.

The most highly rated licensees were viewed as competent, trustworthy and effective in delivering on their commitments, while helping advisers provide high-quality advice to clients.

However, CoreData also highlighted areas where advisers believe licensees could improve. While advisers rated their licensees strongly for industry commitment, lower scores were recorded for adviser recruitment and succession support.

Licensees received some of their weakest ratings for helping practices find new advisers and improving adviser standards through recruitment policies, suggesting a gap between strategic support and practical business assistance.

The report revealed significant differences between networked and self-licensed advisers.

Self-licensed advisers were more likely to report disrupted sleep, difficulty switching off from work and a loss of motivation, reflecting the additional responsibilities associated with holding an AFSL.

By contrast, fewer than one in 10 advisers operating within a licensee network said they would consider switching licensees. Among those open to moving, lower fees, stronger administrative support and better technology integration were the most compelling reasons.

Meanwhile, almost one-quarter of self-licensed decision-makers indicated they would consider moving back to a licensee network model.

Compliance remains the biggest operational challenge for self-licensed firms, according to the report, with advisers warning the realities of self-licensing are often underestimated.

The annual AFSL audit, together with the need to continually adapt systems and processes to changing legislation and regulation, was identified as major pain points.

One self-licensed adviser offered a cautionary note for peers considering the transition.

"Self-licensing gives you control, but it comes with a lot more responsibility than people expect," the adviser said.

"Be realistic about the time you'll spend on compliance, systems and operations."

Speaking at the Advisers Big Day Out in Wollongong, Real Asset Management distribution director Rhys Leitch said the investment environment had changed materially, requiring advisers to move beyond the long-standing mix of equities and bonds.

Leitch said retirees now faced a very different risk profile to previous generations, with persistent inflation, higher interest rates and more frequent market dislocations challenging traditional portfolio assumptions.

"The traditional 60/40 portfolio served investors well for decades, but the dynamic that underpinned its success have shifted," he said.

"Advisers need to think differently about building resilient retirement portfolios."

He said one of the biggest challenges was that defensive assets were no longer providing the same level of diversification they once had, with bonds increasingly moving in tandem with equity markets during periods of stress.

As a result, Leitch argued portfolios should incorporate alternative income-generating assets capable of delivering more stable returns while reducing reliance on listed market performance.

Private credit, he said, has merged as an increasingly important component of modern retirement portfolios.

"Private credit offers the opportunity to generate attractive income streams with lower correlation to traditional listed assets," Leitch said.

"That can play an important role in helping retirees manage sequencing risk while maintaining reliable income."

Leitch said the focus for advisers should not simply be maximising returns but building portfolios that could sustain clients throughout retirement despite unpredictable market conditions.

"The objective in retirement is different," he said.

"It's about creating confidence that clients can continue funding their lifestyle regardless of what markets are doing."

He added diversification should extend beyond simply owning more asset classes, instead combining investments that respond differently across economic cycles.

Leitch said advisers who embrace a broader portfolio toolkit would be better positioned to manage the growing complexity of retirement income strategies as Australia's aging population continued to expand.

"The next generation of retirement portfolios will be built around resilience, income and flexibility," he said.

"That's where we believe the conversation is heading."

Speaking at Advisers Big Day Out in Wollongong, La Trobe Financial director of wealth solutions Michael Watson said investors should avoid relying on strategies that have worked historically without considering whether market conditions have fundamentally changed.

Using the Battle of Waterloo as an analogy, Watson said concentrated investment approaches that once delivered strong outcomes may no longer be appropriate.

"Conditions have changed, what's worked in the past may not work again this time," he said.

Watson said Australia's weak productivity growth and subdued economic expansions meant even modest GDP growth risked becoming inflationary, reinforcing the need for investors to reassess portfolio construction.

"We're range bound for growth. At this exact moment in time any GDP growth greater than what we've recently seen will be inflationary in its own right," he said.

He argued advisers should consider a broader mix of income-generating assets, including commercial property, infrastructure and private credit, rather than relying solely on listed markets.

"People don't invest in equities because they love shares. People don't invest in bonds because they love negative correlations," Watson said.

"They invest because they want to grow wealth towards and into a long retirement with sufficient income to meet their lifestyle demands."

Watson said concerns surrounding private credit should be viewed in context, arguing the challenges emerging in global markets were more reflective of private equity valuations than deterioration in underlying loan quality.

"We're seeing borrowers proving capable of serving their debt," he said.

"We're not seeing broad-based distress or covenant breaches that point to a systemic credit issue."

He also highlighted infrastructure as an increasingly attractive long-term opportunity, noting its contracted cashflows and inflation linked characteristics align well with retirement portfolios.

Looking ahead, Watson said advisers should focus less on repeating past investment playbooks and more on building diversified portfolios capable of adapting to evolving economic conditions.

AFCA received a record 119,949 complaints in the 12 months to June end, the highest number on record and the third consecutive year complaints have exceeded 100,000.

Investments and advice complaints increased by 56%, primarily driven by the Shield Master Fund and First Guardian collapses, while complaints alleging the failure to act in the client's best interest remained the top issue with a 65% increase on last year, up to 2083.

AFCA previously highlighted financial services businesses are failing to provide consistent outcomes due to its fragmented resolution frameworks.

AFCA chief customer officer Deborah Jenkins said despite most practices remaining compliant, the detriment from a single incident is too significant.

"While most financial advice firms do the right thing, we are seeing a significant number of complaints stem from major financial collapses that have affected thousands of consumers," Jenkins said.

"These matters are complex and can be incredibly stressful for individuals and their families."

Responding to the high volume of complaints in relation to the collapsed managed investment schemes, AFCA streamlined some 1800 complaints in a lead decision approach late last year to deliver a "consistent and fair" outcome for all affected investors.

Meanwhile, complaints for super (8755) also increased significantly (up 42%), highlighting the delays in claim handling, service issues and rejection of insurance claims as the most common issues.

Rejection of claim complaints increased a whopping 82% compared with the previous year, AFCA said, while scam complaints rose 12% to 6706 following a decline the previous year.

Jenkins believes the numbers reflect the continued threat scams pose to Australian consumers.

"Scammers are becoming more sophisticated in how they target consumers. Resolving disputes is important but preventing scams before they happen is even better. That's why broader scam prevention efforts are so important," Jenkins said.

Overall, the three most complained about financial products in 2025-26 were personal transaction accounts, motor vehicle insurance and credit cards.

Banking and finance remained AFCA's largest complaint area, with financial difficulty complaints increasing 17% and credit reporting complaints rising 22% across the year, with a steep rise in recent months.

Jenkins said three years of more than 100,000 complaints highlights the challenges many consumers continue to face in a difficult economic environment.

"These numbers highlight the impact that ongoing cost-of-living challenges and economic uncertainty are having on consumers, and the flow-on effects these conditions can have across the financial system," Jenkins said.

"Complaint data is one of the clearest signals firms have about what's going wrong for their customers. Firms that use those insights to improve are more likely to prevent the same problems happening again.

"We'll continue to share the insights we're seeing through our complaints data with firms, so they have the opportunity to identify emerging issues early and improve outcomes for their customers."

Since establishment in 2018, AFCA has received close to 700,000 complaints and secured some $2.6 billion in compensation or refunds for affected consumers and businesses.

The Hong Kong-based firm is acquiring Polar 993, an Australian financial services licensee providing trustee, responsible entity, custody, and compliance services for fund managers across private equity, venture capital and private credit.

Upon completion, Polar 993 will continue operating from its Melbourne office, with its leadership and team remaining in place delivering continuity of service to existing clients while broadening its reach across the region.

The firm was founded managing director Adam Lindell in 2020. Lindell was the founder and chief executive of Labassa Capital after a 12-year stint at Merricks Capital as its chief operating officer and head of structured credit.

Commenting, Lindell said the firm focuses on law, investment management and compliance, offering a "rare" end-to-end understanding of fund management process.

"We are a technology-led fund services platform providing modern, institutional-grade trustee and fund administration services to a growing market of sophisticated fund managers," Lindell said.

"Becoming part of Acclime gives us significant institutional backing and the scale to do more for our clients and staff here in Australia and abroad."

Meanwhile, Acclime group chief executive Izzy Silva said the acquisition supports the firm's expansion across the broader region.

"This strategic acquisition represents a powerful extension of Acclime's fund service capabilities in Australia and beyond," Silva said.

"Polar 993 not only brings us a great Australian platform and a high-quality client base, but a proven operating system capable of underpinning the technology layer of our global fund services business."

Acclime regional managing director for Australia and New Zealand Randolph van der Burgh added: "In addition to an excellent team, Polar 993 brings an advanced technology platform to our fund services business across Australia, New Zealand and beyond."

"They are a great fit for Acclime, and we are delighted to welcome Adam and his team to Acclime."

This acquisition follows Acclime's recent acquisitions of Bourke Group in Melbourne, Boutique Capital and Capital Architects in Sydney, and Rockburgh Fund Services in New Zealand, reinforcing the group's strategy of building a regional professional services platform.

Speaking at the Financial Services Council (FSC) Shaping Advice Summit, Barrett took aim at platforms for how they portray themselves as the leaders in solving adviser productivity issues.

"I just disagree with [the idea that platforms are best placed to solve adviser productivity]. I think advice businesses are best placed to solve productivity challenges because we own the advice process," Barrett asserted.

"We're the ones dispensing services to the clients; it's our process. It's not the platform's process... We are where we are because the advice industry has been so fragmented.

"There have never been financially strong, large-scale advice platforms that have the capital to [improve adviser productivity]."

Barrett also lamented that the ownership of their clients' data is so "dispersed" due to the "open architecture" structure of platforms, creating a barrier for advisers who are simply looking for better access.

He pointed to the "elephant in the room" being centred on data - which is very difficult to obtain and therefore analyse.

"In our industry, the data issues are so complicated, the data quality is so poor, and the ownership of that data is so dispersed," he said.

"That's our data; they're our clients. They're not [the platforms'] clients."

At a separate panel, responding to Barrett's stern claims, Netwealth chief executive Matt Heine and DASH executive director of strategy Darren Pettiona rebuked Barrett's idea, calling it a widely spread "misconception" among advisers.

Heine argued that many may think platforms are using their clients' data in "nefarious" ways, which is false.

"It's not about client ownership; it's about the repositioning where platforms have come from a product perspective," Heine said.

"The reality is that, as we've evolved as a business, we think of ourselves far more as a tech business than a wealth business... We have a platform but we also have a fantastic data aggregation solution that would solve 99% of the problems that we hear in every practice.

"And yet there's this misconception of, 'if I didn't use that data solution over here, which is completely independent of the platform, you're going to use my data in nefarious ways to do things that I want you to'. It's fundamentally not right."

Pettiona agreed, stating that the sentiment is discrediting platforms.

He understood that the platforms are ultimately a service utility, but it doesn't hinder the fostering of "real" relationships between the two parties.

"But if [a platform] tries to become the gatekeeper and the dictator, I think that's a slippery slide," Pettiona said.

ASIC alleges that unqualified audit reports on First Guardian and its compliance plan for the 2020 to 2024 financial years, issued by Auditeo and signed by either lead auditor Ajm Didarul Islam Khan or, for certain compliance plan audits, Brian Robert Taylor, were false or misleading.

Khan is the sole director and shareholder of Auditeo and was the lead auditor for the First Guardian financial audits.

Taylor was engaged by Auditeo as the lead auditor in relation to most of the First Guardian compliance plan audits.

ASIC alleges that Khan and Taylor failed to comply with auditing and assurance standards that applied to the conduct of the audits, did not obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence and did not perform the First Guardian audits with due care and skill.

Auditeo's audit files appear to not demonstrate that any financial audit was in fact conducted for the 2021 financial year. This is despite Auditeo and Khan issuing a report for that year.

In the 2022 financial year, some $137 million of reported assets were entirely untested by Auditeo and Khan. The following year, the untested amount increased to about $170 million.

Auditeo and Taylor also failed to consider the correct compliance plan that applied for part of the 2022 financial year and the entire 2023 financial year.

All in all, ASIC believes that audit opinions were issued despite having no reasonable basis and that the appropriate level of audit work was not performed.

"The alleged failures in this matter occurred before the collapse of the First Guardian Master Fund, with a devastating impact on investors," ASIC chair Sarah Court said."

"Just six months after Auditeo issued unqualified audit reports in relation to First Guardian, liquidators were appointed. More than 6000 Australians were exposed to its collapse, with liquidators warning losses could be as high as $446 million."

Speaking in a panel discussion at the Financial Services Council (FSC) Shaping Advice Summit in Sydney this morning, AZ NGA group chief executive Paul Barrett said the local advice platforms will continue to grow, and investors are bound to notice the trend.

He noted advice platforms are filling in the craters left behind by the bank's exit from the sector and are prompting fruitful investment opportunities for global private equity businesses.

"You fast forward a decade from now, and these advice platforms are going to be multi-billion-dollar enterprises. They're going to hire thousands and thousands of people, and you want to think about what private equity sees in that," Barrett said.

"There's huge upside for private equity, and that's just the basics."

He alluded to CoreData's latest findings, where technology can bring the client-per-adviser average to 155, compared to those that were not adopting them (131), and said the leveraging of innovation to draw in more clients will be its core focus moving forward.

"We're going to take that in the first instance, and the easy low-hanging fruit to [increased clients per adviser to] 155 that can generate between $22 million and $45 million of margin for our advice platform," Barrett said.

"... if you can make these, what looks like marginal improvements, on things like clients per adviser, you can have enormous benefit in terms of value creation. If you've got a scale platform that owns the client relationship, that's key."

However, he lamented that many investors have been rather idle and yet to take any action.

"Although there's probably more talk than action... the complexity of getting this money, it's not easy to get, and once you get it, the demands and expectations that are placed upon you are not the same from... that banking environment or the self-owned and licensees; it's quite different," Barrett said.

Barett added that this model has been around and matured in other jurisdictions like the US and the UK, and if Australia can replicate those markets, investors will capitalise greatly.

"There are some incredibly impressive organisations in those markets, and the valuations in those markets are going one way... and now that capital is coming here, there's also an opportunity for investors to come to this market at its infancy in the evolution of advice platforms to buy low and sell high," Barrett said.

"It's not just demand and supply. There's a bunch of factors, but it's just great that we've been having this conversation, and I think the landscape is changing very quickly."

CoreDara founder and principal Andrew Inwood agreed the industry is proving to be an intriguing investment point for global private equity businesses.

He said the Australian financial services industry has been industrialised to the point that many of the high margin, highly scalable and reliable businesses are pledging to investors they are "sensible" to bet on.

But he reiterated advice businesses need to be mindful of the capital flooding in as they can be "tricky" to manage.

"It's extremely tricky to manage, and it's hard to get, and once you've got it, they demand a lot of attention," he said.

"... unless it's a regulatory challenge, there's no way that this money can be destroyed. It must be managed [appropriately] and we must have better outcomes."

The strategic partnership aims to simplify the member engagement experience by combining InvestStream's conversational engagement technology SuperAnne with SUGAI, the financial modelling capability from MUFG Retirement Solutions' administration platforms.

The pair said the initiative will enable a more "connected" approach to member engagement while supporting superannuation funds to deliver scalable, digitally enabled advice.

Advisers will also benefit from enhanced workflows from a connected technology environment, which will reduce duplicated data entry and improve continuity between digital engagement and adviser support.

It comes as expectations for personalised digital experiences continue to grow, according to Bravura Solutions.

MUFG Retirement Solutions ANZ chief executive Frank Lombardo highlighted how technology can help address the advice gap while enabling super funds to respond to evolving member expectations.

"One of the greatest opportunities facing our industry is expanding access to quality financial advice for more Australians. We believe technology has an important role to play in helping democratise advice by making personalised guidance more accessible, affordable and scalable," Lombardo said.

"Our proposed partnership with InvestStream would bring conversational engagement tools, sophisticated financial modelling and administration capabilities into a single ecosystem, rather than treating these capabilities as separate.

"This integrated solution would enable superannuation funds to scale their personalised guidance while reducing complexity and improving the member experience."

InvestStream chief executive and founder Jason Hoang said the collaboration will simplify sophisticated financial modelling for members.

"Professional-grade financial intelligence has traditionally been available primarily through financial advisers and specialist advice processes. We believe technology can help make those same insights accessible to more Australians," Hoang said.

"By combining our technology with MUFG Retirement Solutions' administration capabilities, we have an opportunity to bring sophisticated financial modelling into the digital experiences members already use, helping superannuation funds close the advice gap and deliver more personalised guidance at scale."

Notably, Australian Food Super recently became the first super fund to bring an AI-powered engagement initiative for its members in a partnership with InvestStream.

Although medical professionals are among Australia's highest-earning occupations, accounting for five of the top 10 professions based on average taxable income, that income does not automatically translate to lasting wealth, NAB Private Wealth's Beyond the Practice Whitepaper 2026 said.

According to the study, there are currently around 53,000 medical professionals across the country, and some 63% own their private practice, either individually or as part of a group, and are faced with staff management (77%), navigating regulatory and compliance requirements (69%), and a lack of formal business management skills (63%).

Nearly a quarter (23%) stated they face difficulty in securing initial capital and equipment financing. However, the core constraint in wealth management for these individuals stems from insufficient time, as nearly 80% work more than 40 hours a week, which further compresses the wealth-building window.

"... professionals who engage early with a private banker or wealth adviser can be better placed to manage practice debt, protect personal assets, and begin building wealth in parallel with growing their practice," the report said.

NAB Private Wealth chief executive Michael Saadie reiterated the importance of using the support available while they are busy managing their practices.

"At a headline level, medical professionals earn well. Underneath that, their financial lives are more complex, but also full of opportunity when supported properly," Saadie said.

"With the right advice and structures in place, they are in a strong position to turn peak earnings into lasting confidence and choice."

Saadie said tailored banking and wealth advice could make a meaningful difference.

"Medical professionals benefit from bankers who understand how their careers, practices and long-term goals evolve over time," he said.

"As they build trust with their patients, they value the same consistency and understanding from their banker."

Meanwhile, 60% planned to practice for as long as they can, while only a third (34%) have a specific retirement age in mind. Six percent don't plan on retiring at all.

The report said the trend is unsurprising and continues to be influenced by mix of financial, professional and systemic factors.

However, NAB said for professionals who own their practice, succession planning is one of the most consequential wealth decisions they will make.

"The value embedded in a practice including its patient base, equipment and goodwill can represent a significant portion of retirement capital," it said.

"Yet this transition is often left unplanned until the final years of a specialist's career."

Taking into account the new professional standards reforms, which came into effect at the beginning of the year, Rainmaker found that an AQF 7 or higher qualification were the most popular.

AQF 7 stood as the minimum requirement for advisers to continue practising, unless qualified through the experience provider pathway, which recognises long-tenured advisers with a clean record.

According to Rainmaker's Financial Adviser Report for the June quarter, licensees are viewing AQF 8 as the benchmark for advisers moving forward.

The Graduate Diploma (AQF 8) is the most common highest qualification, held by 35% of advisers.

Of all advisers on the register, 13% sat below AQF 7, and 2% had no mapped formal qualification. Within that group, licensees reported 1967 advisers on the experienced provider pathway and 246 more with the pathway plus a marked qualification.

Notably, a lower recorded education level is not evidence of non-compliance.

Rainmaker noted the pathway to reaching these standards is now shrinking, as platforms and dealer groups "competing for adviser share can segment on route."

"... pathway-reliant books skew senior and will retire out, while the approved-qualification cohort is the durable base," the report said.

Additionally, since ASIC commenced its review of the Financial  Advisers Register (FAR) in February, 132 individuals were identified as not having any qualifications or training courses marked from some 82 Australian financial services licensees.

Of those individuals, 106 records on the FAR have been updated to reflect they are, in fact, qualified, while 26 have had their authorisation ceased.

Additionally, the financial adviser exam, which is a separate requirement, saw 746 advisers leave the register permanently in January 2022 when the requirement became effective. The number represented roughly 10 times the usual monthly exit count, the report said.

Nicholas Duncan Jeremy Brookes and Vittorio Vincenzo Turco were each banned from managing or controlling financial services businesses for three years for their connection to NextGen's refusal or failure to comply with at least two AFCA determinations.

These related to complaints about inappropriate financial advice involving the establishment of SMSFs to purchase property.

The unpaid determinations left affected consumers out of pocket and ultimately resulted in compensation being paid through the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR).

Brookes' banning took effect on July 15. He is prohibited from controlling an entity carrying on a financial services business and from performing any function involved in operating such a business, including as an officer, manager, employee or contractor.

Turco is similarly prohibited from controlling a financial services business and from serving as an officer of an entity carrying on that business. His ban took effect on July 17.

The action follows the collapse of NextGen Financial Group, which was wound up shortly after failing to comply with an AFCA determination that was subsequently escalated to the Federal Court.

NextGen's AFSL was active from February 2004 until February 2024.

One of the firm's former clients, WJ & V Drakoulis Super, sought to wind up the company after it failed to pay more than $270,000 owed under an AFCA ruling.

AFCA had ordered NextGen to pay $270,523.67 after the firm accepted the determination on 24 November 2022 and agreed to make payment within 28 days. The payment was never made.

The group, formerly known as The FinancialLink Group and previously owned by Beacon Financial Group, was an AFCA member from November 2018 to November 2024.

Both men have the right to seek a review of ASIC's decisions through the Administrative Review Tribunal.

There is an estimated $1 trillion dollars sitting across them, platforms have carved out an important place for themselves in the wealth industry: an online supermarket distributing investment products at scale.

Matt Rady, who now runs BT Panorama, a platform with $150 billion in funds under administration, recalls his time at Macquarie in the mid-1990s.

"We sat around and we said, 'Okay, well, are master trusts and wraps going to take over the world?' And strategically we made the decision that they were, and as a consequence we should be in the supermarket business," Rady told a recent industry event.

Master trusts pool money into a single basket giving the investor a share of the fund, whereas a wrap account is for investors looking for more flexibility, letting them select exactly what they want, with each investment held in their own name.

While platforms can serve everyone from mum-and-dad investors to more sophisticated high-net-worth investors, all the capital is not the same.

Superannuation, which accounts for around $397 billion of assets sitting across platforms, according to APRA, brings a strict regulatory obligation along with it to safeguard the retirement savings of Australians.

That safeguard comes in the form of the superannuation trustee - a separate legal role from the platform itself, responsible for acting in members' best financial interests and exercising due diligence on the investment options it puts in front of members.

It's a safeguard that, ASIC says, didn't hold up in the case of the Shield and First Guardian failures.

Around 11,000 Australians lost more than $1 billion dollars of their retirement savings in the collapse of managed investment schemes, which were made available to investors through platforms.

While Treasury notes in its Enhancing member protections in the superannuation system review the poor conduct in the collapse involved an "interconnected chain of entities," including lead generators and financial advisers along with concerning super-switching practices, the role of platforms has also come under scrutiny.

ASIC in its latest review of trustees noted they are not doing enough to protect their members savings on platforms, finding "stark" gaps in the monitoring of harmful advice fee deductions and unusual fees and investment patterns.

ASIC commissioner Simon Constant said: "Some trustees failed to establish basic protections, like looking into an advice licensee's business model before they are onboarded. This is a clear breach of trust."

ASIC currently also has cases in the Federal Court against Equity Trustees and Diversa Trustees, both trustees-for-hire, externally licensed companies appointed to act as trustee for a fund rather than the trustee sitting inside the same business that runs the platform. ASIC alleges both failed to exercise the same degree of care, skill and diligence a prudent trustee would.

Diversa provided trusteeship for super accounts on Praemium, a platform administering around $74 billion of funds. Equity Trustees did the same for NQ Super & Pension, a division of the AMG Superannuation Fund.

Macquarie and Netwealth, by contrast, kept their trustee in-house. Both have admitted to failures in due diligence and already compensated members with $321 million and $100 million, respectively.

Last year, the prudential regulator in a letter to trustees also called for them to lift standards when onboarding products on platforms. Since then, it has pulled up multiple trustees, including HUB24 Super Fund's trustee HTFS Nominees, slapping additional licence conditions over governance of investment products on the platforms.

Treasury's recent consultation says implementing obligations targeted specifically at platforms requires a legal definition precise enough to identify which products and trustees those obligations should bind.

At present, Treasury's own working definition treats any superannuation trustee of a fund offering a platform product as a "platform trustee". But it notes no such legal distinction currently exists in the law, consulting the public to settle on one.

A clear and accessible definition, it says, would let the government target reforms more precisely at the parts of the system most closely associated with the primary issues highlighted by the Shield and First Guardian collapses.

The industry, however, argues there are sufficient regulations in place and what is needed is better supervision and enforcement of the frameworks that already exist.

AMP group executive for platforms Edwina Maloney says platforms play an important role in providing adviser-led access to a broad investment choices, and that role remains critical given the differing needs of Australians. AMP's North platform administers approximately $85.5 billion in funds.

"Platforms already sit within a multi-layered governance model - filtering out unsuitable options, with researchers, licensees and advisers applying further scrutiny - so the objective should be to enhance those controls, not duplicate them in a way that unnecessarily limits access," Maloney says.

Maloney adds platforms focus on screening out unsuitable investment options, with advisers then selecting investments from the platform menu that are appropriate for their clients. "We're really looking for broad choice but we're a safe broad choice environment, a safe supermarket to go in where you've got the health ticks on the products in there if you want to think about it that way," she says.

Praemium chief executive Anthony Wamsteker adds if the regulator keeps adding on accountability and duplicating obligations across every party, it will just add to the cost.

He notes there is a need for platforms to keep upgrading their technology to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated investment portfolios.

To meet the demand, Wamsteker says it's important for platforms to manage it all seamlessly - understanding the risks being taken and providing proper portfolio reporting without driving costs up too much.

"While we are cautious before we allow a product onto the platform, we're not judges of the investment merits nor should we be because we're not financial advisers...If you create a clear distinction around the platform as a service provider, it allows platforms to get on with doing that very well for as low a cost as possible," he says.

Praemium is currently being dragged by its trustee Diversa in a cross-claim stating if it does lose the case against ASIC, Praemium is the one who should compensate it for the member losses.

Boutique investment manager SG Hiscock & Company (SGH) has multiple funds on different platforms, including AMP North, BT Panorama, Macquarie, Netwealth, HUB24 and Praemium.

SGH head of distribution Anthony Cochran says on average it can cost around $10,000 per fund to get onto a platform, and SGH ideally seeks to put its funds on half a dozen platforms to broaden reach and open up channels of
fund flows.

While he notes the fees for platforms are reasonable at this point, he wouldn't like to see them go up too much more than where they are at now.

"It depends on the regulatory costs that go within our industry, right? Regulation has been a big feature of our industry for many years now, and the more regulatory cost we get, the more cost is built into the business. That cost gets passed on all around," Cochran says.

Wamsteker advocates for a single point of accountability noting it is more efficient and puts the onus where it should be.

"If you make all the parts of the chain do the same job two or three times, double checking what others have done, you might say it makes it a bit safer, but it can diffuse accountability too," he notes.

"There is a tendency for people not to take it quite as seriously if they think somebody else is going to catch the problem in the end."

He points to research houses which have the scale to properly assess risk categories and argues that in the most efficient version of the system, that's exactly where the job should sit.

However, at present we don't live in the most efficient version of the system and ASIC is also suing research house SQM Research over its favourable rating for the Shield fund. ASIC alleges the research house failed to obtain information needed to properly assess Shield and did not consider the inconsistencies in information it received when rating the fund.

MLC Expand chief executive Liz McCarthy says the collapsed investment funds would not have moved past its initial screens as they have multiple screening criteria and doesn't rely just on research house ratings.

She adds the platform also watches for red flags such as a spike in revenue tied to any product on the platform, broad adviser support and targeted specific watchlists even after onboarding a product.

McCarthy notes it is important to have alignment between the trustee and the platform to look after the member, pointing to her direct line with Danielle Press, the independent non-executive chair of the board of IOOF Investment Management, MLC Expand's trustee. Both firms sit under the now-delisted Insignia Financial.

Viola Private Wealth executive chair and adviser Charlie Viola says ultimately, platforms can't be blamed if an adviser makes a bad decision for a client and platforms are there only as an administration and integration layer.

"It's important that if you're going to have these platforms, we don't expect a platform to act as a gatekeeper for investments. That's the adviser's job, that's the licensee's job, that's the job of our investment committee to make sure we're only ever approving good assets and investments that people should actually be invested in," Viola says.

This article is featured in Financial Standard's fortnightly newspaper. To keep reading click here. To subscribe, sign up here.

The financial advisory firm also expects further cost synergies over the estimate provided earlier.

Oracle Group is a financial advice, investments and accounting business with 14 locations across the east coast of Australia.

Count chief executive Hugh Humphrey said the firm is delighted to announce Count Wealth as the fresh, new retail brand to replace Oracle Group.

"This compelling, client-centered proposition leverages 46 years of trusted Count history and provides a consistent national platform to reach more clients and accelerate growth," he said.

Humphrey added key employees of Oracle Group including financial advisers and accountants have been secured and welcomed into Count Wealth.

"We have already appointed new leadership for the accounting and wealth businesses and we are excited to realise the benefits of our combined scale and service offering and shared obsession for delivering great client outcomes," Humphrey said.

Count has also increased the expected annualised pre-tax synergy run rate to $1.25 million, up from the initial $1 million estimate, which are expected to be realised within the next 24 months.

"Oracle Group is a strategic asset that accelerates Count's strategy to building Australia's leading integrated wealth accounting platform," Humphrey said.

"With the ACCC notification waiver received, increased synergies identified, an enhanced debt funding facility in place and integration well progressed, we are energised about realising our growth ambitions."

Count has also updated the final acquisition consideration amounts to reflect Oracle's FY2026 actual normalised EBITA of $9.1 million at the same multiple of 7.2x.

"This represents a year-on-year earnings increase of +5% over the FY2025 normalised EBITA of $8.6 million. The upfront acquisition enterprise value is approximately $65.6 million subject to customary completion adjustments in relation to net debt and net working capital," Count said.

"Key variances to the February 2026 Oracle Group forecast of approximately $10 million include accounting work in progress write-offs, higher than expected 2H FY2026 accounting employee turnover, unavoidable business disruption associated with acquisition completion activities and global investment market volatility."

Justice Moshinski lifted the Merhi's travel ban on July 9.

The order stated the travel restraint handed down one year ago be vacated and that Merhi would "be permitted to collect his passport from the Victoria District Registry."

On June 19, Merhi applied to the Federal Court to vacate travel restraint orders against him. ASIC said it opposed Merhi's application.

The court slapped the travel ban order on Merhi in July 2025 amid ASIC expanding its investigation into the former financial adviser, alleging he engaged in unconscionable conduct, failed to act in clients' best interests, gave conflicted advice, and issued defective statements of advice while receiving millions in fees.

Merhi allegedly used marketing companies to direct clients to his advice businesses, Venture Egg and Financial Services Group Australia. Between 2020 and 2024, clients were advised to invest some $296 million into the First Guardian Master Fund and $230 million into the Shield Master Fund.

ASIC calculates Merhi's businesses allegedly received nearly $18 million in upfront advice fees and over $19 million in marketing payments from entities associated with First Guardian.

A few weeks later, the Federal Court banned Merhi from working in financial services after ASIC successfully obtained interim restraining orders. Merhi's assets have also been frozen since February 2025.

ASIC recently took action on former Keystone Asset Management directors and compliance committee members who put Australians' superannuation at risk by investing scheme funds in related entities and third parties without proper safeguards.

Paul Chiodo, Ilya Frolov and Mark Yorston allegedly failed their duties to safeguard superannuation members from the collapse of Shield.

Some 5800 investors with $530 million in retirement savings were invested in Shield. Keystone, which is now in liquidation, was the responsible entity for Shield.

ASIC alleges about $305 million of this total was transferred as "loans to entities" linked to Chiodo and Frolov, who were officers and directors of Keystone. The regulator is also concerned such transfers involved the giving of financial benefits to a related party.

This year, we celebrate the Power50 list's 13th anniversary.

The FS Power50 are financial advisers deemed to be best promoting the value of the financial advice profession, while providing outstanding service to their clients and the wider community.

The Power50 comprises advisers who have won industry awards, brought their local advice community together, supported charitable foundations, promoted the value of financial advice in the media and across digital channels and more.

They include those that are active within industry associations, boast a strong social media following, and help uplift financial literacy and awareness.

As part of the selection process, we also invite relevant industry associations to nominate outstanding members of their associations and combine that list with the list of nominations from the Financial Standard editorial and research teams.

Financial Standard will also nominate outstanding advisers based on feature and profile stories we have published in FS Advice - The Australian Journal of Financial Planning.

To nominate a worthy financial adviser, please submit a nomination form here.

Nominations are open until July 20, Monday.

The shortlist will be announced on August 10, Monday, henceforth voting for the top 50 will also commence.

The 2026 Power50 will be unveiled on September 18, Friday.

Mancell officially stepped away as an adviser and business owner on June 30.

MFG has been acquired by Wealth Financial, also based in North-West Tasmania, in a deal that brings together two longstanding local practices with aligned philosophies and client-first values.

The merged business will oversee about $1 billion in funds under advice, operate from three Tasmanian offices and a satellite office Canberra, and employ 14 advisers and 40 staff.

The combined entity will be led by Michael Rowlands, who has been a partner at Wealth Financial since 2019, and serve close to 2000 families. Mancell will remain involved through a position on the advisory board.

In 1980, Mancell established MFG but became "frustrated with the training focus on selling products", he told Financial Standard in 2023, adding years later he set off to shed institutional influence and charter his own course.

"Today, the firm still has my very first client, and our single biggest client has been with us since 1981," he said. "The community is richer for the advice we've provided over a very long time."

When it came to hanging up his boots, Mancell trusted MFG will go from strength to strength.

"I was always passionate about not selling to an institution or a private equity firm," he says about selling to Wealth Financial, which approached Mancell asking if he was ready to sell.

"We'd made some previous attempts that didn't come to fruition through intergenerational transition plans, so when this opportunity came up, we virtually found satisfactory terms on day one, which was great," he said. The two groups' investment and clients-first beliefs aligned.

"Both firms operate free from conflicts of interest. The new combined firm, with its three offices, will definitely have some synergies that Michael Rowlands can take forward," Mancell said.

Factor-based investing, which has been a central proponent to MFG's investment philosophy, will also continue under the new ownership. Mancell said this was "absolutely central to our discussions."

In 2023, Mancell distilled this investment philosophy in the book, Your investment philosophy: A guide to managing wealth and protecting it from fraudsters, marketers & doom merchants, which he co-wrote with communications specialist Daniel Crowe.

Looking ahead, Mancell plans to devote more time to family, travel, golf and writing projects, including documenting both his family history and his decades-long career in financial advice.

"I think we did well because we did good for others. That's incredibly satisfying," he said.

"I'm looking forward to more adventures. Not so much rest, but plenty of adventures."

The new agreement will see Netwealth cater to Morgan Stanley's ASX-listed and domestic investments. This builds on Netwealth's existing relationship with Morgan Stanley.

A subset of Morgan Stanley's clients will have the option to transition their assets from Morgan Stanley's legacy domestic platform to Netwealth's one. Such clients will continue to be advised by Morgan Stanley financial advisers.

Morgan Stanley is the first major client win amid Netwealth's broader investment in stockbroking and private wealth management solutions.

This includes Netwealth integrating sponsored individual Holder Identification Number (iHIN) functionality on its platform, as well as expanding its broader private wealth offering, service model and governance framework.

The tailored solution for Morgan Stanley will provide a single technology, execution and administration platform for listed securities, managed accounts, managed funds, cash and term deposits. Clients will access consolidated portfolio, performance and tax reporting.

Netwealth chief executive and managing director Matt Heine commented: "The investment has underpinned the continued development of our product offering, including the delivery of Netwealth Private and individual HIN capability, alongside a platform designed to deliver scale, digital enablement, and a high -quality client experience that supports our adviser clients and their growth."

For the new financial year, Heine anticipates the group's funds under administration (FUA) to be between $18 billion and $20 billion - an increase of 17% to 30% on FY26 - "reflecting underlying momentum and new growth initiatives."

Netwealth reported total FUA of $125.8 billion at the end of March. Over the next four years, he wants FUA to double.

"We see a significant opportunity to continue to grow. We will continue to invest in a disciplined manner to capture the se opportunities, supported by a clear pipeline of initiatives with attractive returns. We remain focused on balancing growth and profitability, maintaining our financial discipline as we scale, and are excited by what the future holds," he said.

The account is designed to simplify and streamline cash management, accelerate funding and settlement, improve visibility and control, and reduce the friction and risk associated with multiple cash accounts and transfers.

The account will be fully integrated and accessible within the AUSIEX adviser trading portal, providing real time funding for trading accounts, online visibility of balances and transactions, automatic settlements and notifications, a competitive interest rate calculated daily and paid monthly and is fully supported by local service teams.

AUSIEX analysis showed advisers executing 100 trades a month could save more than eight hours by removing unnecessary cash transfer steps through a more integrated cash solution.

"AUSIEX has built an integrated cash hub as a practical solution for advisers to reduce unnecessary steps in trading and cash administration," AUSIEX head of product and customer experience Brett Grant said.

"Inefficient cash and trading processes is costing advisers and their clients valuable time - reducing both trading agility and time spent with clients. Streamlining these processes also helps reduce the compliance and operational risks associated with cash movements."

It is a practical liquidity tool for advisers and clients, AUSIEX said, helping them keep investable cash accessible and ready to deploy when markets move, while still supporting efficient settlement and portfolio implementation.

"Cash should not simply be set and forget, nor treated as a passive and disconnected portfolio holding," Grant said.

"An efficient integrated cash management account can help advisers build more deliberate liquidity positions - enabling client cash to earn income while giving advisers the flexibility to meet cash needs, respond to volatility and take advantage of investment opportunities without unnecessarily disrupting long-term portfolio strategies."

Some 209 people sat the exam, including 137 first-timers, in June. Of the first-timers, 75.9% or 104 passed the exam.

To date, 22,748 individual candidates have sat the exam.

Of these, 21,113 or 92.8% of candidates have passed the exam, which ASIC said demonstrates having the skills to apply their knowledge of advice construction, ethics and legal requirements to the practical scenarios tested in the exam.

This marks the 33rd exam cycle. The next exam will be held on August 20.

The latest results are in line with March cycle, which saw 292 candidates sit for the exam with a 71.6% pass rate.

An analysis by Padua WealthData highlighted the adviser numbers dropping below 15,000, as seven licensees have reduced to zero advisers.

In the new financial year, the adviser population dipped below 15,000, as seven licensees reduced to zero advisers.

Adviser numbers declined to 14,899, at the end of June, down almost 200 on the prior week.

ASIC recently ceased the authorisations of 26 advisers as part of its work on complying with the qualifications standard that took effect on 1 January 2026.

The regulator's recent review of the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) found of the relevant providers who are existing providers and remained on the FAR, 132 individuals did not have any qualifications or training courses marked from some 82 AFS licensees.

From the start of 2026, existing providers must satisfy at least one of the pathways introduced to continue operating, including the obtainment of a bachelor or higher degree, education and training standard qualifications, or has accessed the experienced provider pathway.

In December 2025, about 458 advisers ceased their authorisations before the deadline.

The review, commenced in February, identified that of the relevant providers who are existing providers and remained on the FAR, 132 individuals did not have any qualifications or training courses marked from some 82 Australian financial services licensees.

Of those individuals, 106 records on the FAR have been updated to reflect they are, in fact, qualified, while 26 have had their authorisation ceased.

From the beginning of 2026, existing providers must satisfy at least one of the pathways introduced to continue operating, including the obtainment of a bachelor or higher degree, education and training standard qualifications, or has accessed the experienced provider pathway.

In December 2025, about 458 advisers ceased their authorisation before the deadline.

ASIC may undertake a further review looking at the details of the qualifications and training courses that AFSL have marked on the FAR.

It comes as Padua WealthData highlighted the adviser numbers have dipped below 15,000, as seven licensees have reduced to zero advisers.

"At the close of business on 30 June, adviser numbers had dropped to 14,899, down almost 200 on the prior week, as advisers resigned around year-end, a mix of genuine retirements and those using the date to switch licensees," Padua said.

FTI Consulting, which was appointed as joint liquidators of Falcon, said the recoverable amount with respect to the Western Subdivisions is "much less" than unitholders in the First Guardian Master Fund would have expected based on Falcon's disclosures to liquidators at the time of their appointment.

Falcon entered into a loan agreement with Western Subdivisions, which would fund the acquisition of 335-415 Hamilton Highway in Fyansford, Victoria. The facility came to $33.5 million, but by mid-May 2024 Falcon had advanced $23 million to Western Subdivisions.

The loan provided to Western Subdivisions was unsecured. Western Subdivisions also does not own the property and appears to have no assets with which to repay the loan.

Falcon also advanced the loan to the Guerinat Group, with no contractual right for Falcon to recover those amounts from group members, which included the purchase of 1190 Doherty Road in Tarneit, Victoria.

FTI Consulting determined the total advance relating to the two parties came to $38.3 million.

Some $1 million of the $2.9 million is already held in trust pending release upon the court's approval. This is essentially 7.5 cents out of $1.

FTI Consulting acknowledged the recoverable amount is well below the amounts loaned and prior valuations at the time of the liquidator's appointment.

The settlement provides a "better net commercial outcome for Falcon and its stakeholders than alternatives" such as pursing litigation against the Guerinat Group, FTI Consulting said, adding if Falcon went down an unsuccessful litigation path it may incur further adverse costs.

Many victims disagreed this was "the best commercial outcome". On the First Guardian and Shield Superannuation Discussion group on Facebook, one member described the recoverable amounts as "another fire sale".

One member said it was "another bitter pill" for investors and many others vented their frustration at the "disappointing" outcome.

The liquidators notified unitholders about the settlement's commercial rationale on July 1.

Also on this date, FTI Consulting applied to the Federal Court seeking approval for the amount detailed in the deed of settlement entered into with Western Subdivisions.