No one reads the PDS: ASICBY ELIZABETH MCARTHUR | TUESDAY, 15 OCT 2019 11:57AMASIC is calling time on the financial services industry's reliance on disclosure as the default consumer protection, saying it enables poor conduct and poor consumer outcomes. Related News |
Editor's Choice
Is demand for active ETPs genuine beyond outlier conversions?
As the active exchange-traded product (ETP) market continues to grow, new Rainmaker Information research asks whether demand has genuinely improved or if it is underpinned by conversions from three investment managers delivering "three exceptional months of work"?
Schroders nabs Lazard's Australian portfolio manager
Aaron Binsted will join Schroders Australia in early November as a portfolio manager and analyst after 24 years at Lazard Asset Management.
IFM targets growth opportunities with new global office
IFM Investors has opened its first office in Singapore to capture growth opportunities in a region "under allocated" by institutional investors.
HNWIs demand outperforming, mission-driven endowment funds
High-net-worth investors' (HNWIs) increasing demand for philanthropy vehicles with robust governance, a clear mission and can outperform in equal measure is helping fuel the rise of endowment funds such as the Aspect Impact Fund.
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
Sarah Shaw
GLOBAL PORTFOLIO MANAGER
4D INFRASTRUCTURE
4D INFRASTRUCTURE
It wasn't confidence that prompted Sarah Shaw to walk away from established investment houses and co-found 4D Infrastructure in 2015. It was something she believes is far more important: courage.
The Financial Standard podcast Tune in each week as we discuss the latest developments in Australia's wealth management industry. |  |
The super industry has been up in arms to ASIC about this for years yet ASIC has been the main culprit, insisting that PDSs contain more and more information - 99% meaningless to ordinary superannuation members.
So why have advisers for years had to give out what is now recognised as meaningless information? Just a waste of time. Compliant advice has never been the equivalent of good advice. ASIC has never understood this. No wonder people try to DIY their super, insurances and investments. No wonder people don't like paying for "advice" when there's so much meaningless information involved. When will we be allowed to get back to basics???
ASIC you are the one who wants the disclosure. You started this war. Don't complain that it doesn't work. Of course no one reads the PDS. You didn't need to conduct market research to discover that.