Editor's Choice
The 'blind spot' costing advisers nearly $10bn: Research
Research from Elemnta indicates financial advisers do not realise they are expending nearly twice as much effort on non-advised operations, highlighting a perception gap and challenges related to data collection and access, which cost 6000 practices about $9.36 billion in "destroyed enterprise value".
Canadian pension giant takes 20% stake in La Trobe
Canadian public pension fund OMERS has taken a minority stake of nearly 20% in La Trobe Financial from Brookfield.
ASIC issues another stop order for private credit fund
ASIC has issued an interim stop order on the Murdoch Clarke Mortgage Fund, issued by Murdoch Clarke Mortgage Management, prohibiting it from offering, issuing, selling or transferring interests in the fund.
Inheritors struggle to act on financial advice: Survey
Australia's wealthy inheritors are making major financial decisions before they feel ready, with new research highlighting a gap between receiving professional advice and having the confidence to act on it.
Further Reading
Products
Expert Feed
When geopolitics becomes a portfolio risk
Geopolitics is back - again - and Australian investors can no longer treat it as distant background noise.
Does association membership still matter?
With all the changes the advice sector has experienced in recent years, such as regulatory reform and increased education and professional standards ...
Digital assets and where they stand in 2026
So far in 2026 digital assets have captured the headlines largely for the wrong reasons, but that doesn't tell the full story.
Rethinking default design in a changing market environment
The evolution underway in the US DC system highlights the value of periodically reassessing default design assumptions.
Featured Profile
David Sharpe
CHAIRMAN
FINANCIAL ADVICE ASSOCIATION AUSTRALIA
FINANCIAL ADVICE ASSOCIATION AUSTRALIA
A family man, business owner, cricket fanatic and financial adviser, David Sharpe has many facets. One of his biggest legacies, as he steps down as chair of the Financial Advice Association Australia, is leaving the profession stronger than he found it.
The Financial Standard podcast Tune in each week as we discuss the latest developments in Australia's wealth management industry. |  |
As an ex-employer nominated Board member of an industry fund, I was always impressed by the employee representatives on the Board (oh those terrible union officials) and their motives with regard to the Fund..
They considered the establishment of a retirement scheme for their working class members one of their greatest achievements and industrial issues never, by my observation, conflicted with their objective of maximising the retirement benefits for their members. Their philosophical problem was that they were making their socialist members capitalists by default. They were however always interested in an employer that was behind or defaulted in his payments, but so they should be.
Anyway, the proof will be in the future returns to members as industry funds beat the retail funds hands down currently, so we will see what happens. I think it must be all to do with Mr Abbott's inability to deal with trade unions and his determination to destroy the good work that they do in this area and also he wants to give the retail funds (and their profit margin) a leg up at every opportunity.
Has anyone ever heard of any fraud or misappropriation or any negative in the administration of an Australian industry fund that has made this change necessary?