government

Policy & Regulation

Govt releases Retirement Income Covenant draft legislation

The draft legislation will codify the obligation for superannuation trustees to have a retirement income strategy which outlines how they plan to assist their members....

Superannuation

Govt ‘backflipped’ on last minute YFYS changes: ISA

Industry Super Australia say changes on the performance test is a backflip by the Government, while AMP praised the move as they believe funds will be judged on their cur...

Funds management

Fears for consequences of zombie companies

Investors in passive funds need to be wary that they aren’t invested in zombie companies, those companies which are being propped up only by Government stimulus, accordin...

Financial planning

Cormann a loss to financial services

West Australian Liberal Senator, Mathias Cormann is to retire from politics later this year, meaning the financial services industry will lose a minister with a deep unde...

Funds management

Jury out on Govt stimulus success: VanEck

The “jury is out” over how successful the investment impact of the Federal Government’s stimulus package will be to the economy, according to VanEck....

Policy & Regulation

Union poll canvasses nationalisation of Qantas

A poll commissioned by the Transport Workers Union has canvassed the possibility of the Federal Government taking a stake in Qantas on the basis of any bail-out of the ai...

Superannuation

Early access to super capped at $10,000 for 2019-20

The Government will allow financially-stressed individuals to access tax-free of up to $10,000 of their superannuation in 2019-20 and a further $10,000 in 2020-21....

Financial planning

Accept that a signed client renewal notice is enough says FPA

The Government should accept that if a client has signed a renewal notice with their financial adviser, that is more than enough proof of the client’s intentions, accordi...

Policy & Regulation

ASIC admits increased risk of litigation failures

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has avoided declaring a targeted success rate for its ‘if not, why not’ approach to litigation and has foreshadowed t...

Policy & Regulation

IPA supports gov reintroduction of SG amnesty

The Institute of Public Accountants has put its support behind the Government’s reintroduction of the superannuation guarantee amnesty bill....

Financial planning

AMP wealth strategy returns to dark ages

The wealth management strategy recently announced by AMP is a return to the dark ages, according to Synchron’s chair, Michael Harrison....

Life/Risk

AFA warns on higher advised risk premiums

The Association of Financial Advisers has warned that a significant unintended consequence of the Government’s changes to insurance inside superannuation will be an incre...

Life/Risk

Did the Govt fail to understand ‘risk-only’ super fund members?

Serious questions have been raised about whether the Government even understood the existence of hundreds of thousands of ‘risk-only’ superannuation fund members when it ...

Policy & Regulation

Gov needs to fix system outage redress

The Scheme for Detriment caused by Defective Administration is being reviewed by the government and the IPA says it needs to be fixed to better help accountants and tax p...

Superannuation

Hume reiterates call to end super culture wars

The Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Services Technology, Senator Jane Hume has reiterated her call for an end to the culture wars ...