Inquiry questions thousand-client practices


|
The Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) on Corporations and Financial Services has questioned the representatives of dealer groups on how many clients a practice should be limited to if they were to fulfil their obligations to every client.
At public hearings on the PJC Inquiry in Melbourne, the committee questioned the representatives of Guardian Financial Planning on whether a planning practice could claim to have 1,000 clients, such as Storm Financial, and still fulfil its client duties.
Steve Browning, Guardian Financial executive manager, said he didn’t think it was possible to prescribe the number of clients a practice could have.
“[It] depends on the definition of a client, it depends on how many clients you can viably service and support, but [it] also [depends] on the structure and sophistication of the practice,” he said.
However, Browning said many advisers simply have a large database full of people they might claim to be clients but aren’t really serviced or supported in any serious way.
Recommended for you
The Financial Services and Credit Panel has made a written order to a relevant provider after it gave advice regarding non-concessional contributions.
With wealth management M&A appetite only growing stronger, Business Health has outlined the major considerations for buyers and sellers to prevent unintended misalignment between the parties.
Industry body SIAA has said the falling number of financial advisers in Australia is a key issue impacting the attractiveness and investor participation of both public and private markets.
As advisers risk losing two-thirds of FUA during the $3.5 trillion wealth transfer, two co-founders underscore why fostering trust with the next generation is vital to retaining intergenerational wealth.