Financial services firms more solvent than most
Times may have been tough in the financial services industry but the latest Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) insolvencies data reveals it is handling the pressure better than most other sectors.
The insolvencies data has revealed some stresses with respect to the segment covering financial planners and Managed Investment Schemes, but nothing to compare with the high numbers of insolvencies in the construction and retail trades.
However the section, Financial and Insurance Services - Other - was noted in the ASIC data as, along with information media and telecommunications, being among the most likely to have become insolvent due to "poor strategic management of business".
Commenting on the insolvency data, ASIC senior executive leader of the ASIC insolvency practitioners team, Adrian Brown, said it showed small to medium insolvencies continued to dominate reports by external administrators to ASIC.
He noted that 85 per cent of the companies had assets of $100,000 or less, with 78.5 per cent having less than 20 employees while 42 per cent had liabilities of $250,000 or less.
Recommended for you
ASIC has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from a Perth-based company auditor who failed to adequately conduct multiple audits on an advice firm that receivers say has $100 million missing.
After a brutal month for adviser numbers, the net loss for June now stands at more than 100 advisers, but the financial year is still on track to end in positive territory.
Two advice platforms have been identified by Adviser Ratings as standouts for efficiency as time-pressured advisers become evermore fickle in their platform selection.
Private wealth manager Escala Partners has increased its alternatives allocations to more than a third in the past three years, describing the asset class as offering “fertile ground” for diversification.
