Editor's Choice
Apostle taps former Platinum AM chief
Apostle Funds Management has appointed a new chief executive following the departure of managing director Mitchell Gunman earlier this year.
LRBA ban raises questions as new details emerge
New data indicates the impact of the LRBAs ban for SMSFs may have been underestimated, which will affect a market significantly larger than what officials suggested, with major implications for housing supply and competition in the mortgage market.
IFM acquires shopping centre portfolio for $300m
IFM Investors has acquired a shopping centre portfolio to be developed and built by Australian-owned developer-builder Oreana with a value of approximately $300 million, as it seeks to harness a surge in convenience-based shopping.
VanEck targets tech thematics with trifecta launch
VanEck is bringing three ETFs to life for local investors to access thematic investments across several emerging technology sectors, including what it says is "Australia's first dedicated quantum computing ETF."
Videos
Brought to you by ![]()
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
Hugh Killen
MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY LIMITED
AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY LIMITED
For Hugh Killen, several life lessons came from spending time on pastoral properties stretching across northern New South Wales and South-West Queensland.
The Financial Standard podcast Tune in each week as we discuss the latest developments in Australia's wealth management industry. |  |
The merger does not magically create an independent group. It is just not owned by one of the big four banks.
In many ways these mergers create even more problems for the consumer as CEO's can talk about "maintaining independence" and "letting the adviser flourish", under a banner that looks no different to the genuine intermediaries.
And mergers and acquisition firms who are not sure if a firm is independent or not perhaps should not comment at all. No good for the reputation showing that lack of knowledge
Would love to see ASIC comment on the statements made by this group
In my view, independent advice is not what SFG currently offer anyway. The advisers within this group have very little flexibility at all and are almost forced to use their own in-house products. If anything there is less independence in this group than is offered by the big 4.