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
Metrics freezes redemptions behind listed funds as audit stalls
Metrics Credit Partners has suspended redemptions in the unlisted wholesale funds that underpin its three ASX-listed strategies, according to an ASX statement by the funds' responsible entity.
APRA flexes fresh powers, zeros in on trustees
APRA has released a package of proposals to strengthen trustee investment governance saying it has "elevated concerns" about the platform sector.
ASIC sets FY27 priorities straight
ASIC has outlined its supervisory priorities for 2026-27 with reviews of artificial intelligence (AI), member services and advice fee deductions among the areas of focus for financial services firms.
UBS brings home new alternatives leader
UBS is relocating a private markets specialist from Switzerland to lead its unified global alternatives (UGA) business in Australia, effective 1 November 2026.
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
Rachel Alembakis
STEWARDSHIP MANAGER
UNITING ETHICAL INVESTORS LIMITED
UNITING ETHICAL INVESTORS LIMITED
As a highly respected journalist, Rachel Alembakis helped push sustainable investing on the agenda long before it was mainstream. Now, she's stepped into the arena to shape the industry from within. Karren Vergara writes.
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.