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
Australia, UK partner to procure well-regulated financial markets
Following its inaugural meeting in September 2025, the second UK-Australia Joint Financial Regulatory Forum took place this week, with Australia remaining vocal about placing greater emphasis on governance and asset valuation of private markets.
Count takes 30% stake in Brisbane advice firm
Count has agreed to acquire a 30% stake in Brisbane-based accounting and financial advice firm Apiary Financial, continuing its push to expand its equity partnership network while reporting stronger first-quarter earnings.
Audit quality continues to fall short: ASIC
The corporate regulator has called for improvements in audit quality and financial reporting after its latest surveillance found companies, including superannuation funds, are still not getting the fundamentals right.
ETFs entering 3.0 era: JPMAM
JPMAM believes thematic ETFs may become a thing of the past as actively managed ETFs become more prevalent.
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
Jacqueline Fernley
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
ARC POINT OCIO PTY LTD
ARC POINT OCIO PTY LTD
Jacqueline Fernley is a self-confessed nerd, a market animal and as of this year, her own boss. Riddhima Talwani 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.