Legislating to ban commissions on superannuation

For many years various pressure groups around the country have been trying to have legislation brought in to ban the payment of commissions from superannuation accounts. Pressure has mounted even further as links are drawn between commissions generated and the recent failures of MIS scheme operators Great Southern and Timbercorp, as well as the demise … Read more

Bias in action

Having just spent a bit of time setting out the relative aspects of bias that exist in the Financial Planning industry, i thought it relevant to highlight just how prevalent and deeply ingrained this tendency for bias is. Please bear in mind that i am not making a value judgement here – bias will always … Read more

Biased or not?

Quite possibly THE singularly most important issue that can be dealt with when considering money. This is likely to be a rather lengthy and ongoing discussion, so go make a coffee (or tea or whichever version of calmative you prefer), lean back and open your mind just that extra little bit. There are more issues … Read more

The word “independent”

This is a very special word in the area of financial services. At least, it is legislatively important in Australia and a good starting point when you begin to consider money, advice and how they interact. Let’s get technical for just a moment… In Australia, the word “indepedent” and its use by financial intermediaries is … Read more