ASIC bans adviser over high-risk switching
The regulator has banned Queensland-based adviser Keith McDermott from providing financial services for three years.
This would prevent him from managing, supervising or auditing the provision of financial services and prohibit him from providing training on financial services and products.
Based on advice he provided to clients while a director at The FinancialLink Group (TFLG), the Australian Securities and Investments Commmision (ASIC) found some of his clients invested in a high-risk fund, Investport Income Opportunity, which did not necessarily match clients’ risk profiles. Other clients were encouraged to switch a high percentage of their retirement savings into the fund.
He also failed to disclose the charges, consequences and lost benefits which arose from the switching recommendation.
The Investport Income Opportunity was a managed investment scheme operated by Endeavour Securities (Australia) and was an entity related to McDermott’s former licensee, TFLG.
ASIC determined this advice was not appropriate or in clients’ best interest and that he prioritised his own and the licensee’s interest ahead of his clients.
The banning was effective from 3 August, 2021, and recorded ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register and the Banned and Disqualified register.
Recommended for you
Sharing his reasoning in joining the FSC board, WT Financial chief executive, Keith Cullen, believes “product and advice cannot be separated” from each other in the current environment.
The Emerge Foundation, a charity run by financial advisers and fund managers, has announced a scholarship program to help veterans transition into tertiary education.
In an open letter, Sequoia chief executive Garry Crole has hit out against shareholders “with a personal axe to grind” as he fights for his job ahead of an EGM.
The JAWG has announced it is in talks with Treasury around five “core principles” to strengthen the education standards for new entrants to the financial advice space.