The Financial Ombudsman Service (reprised from January 2016)
ASIC says the average top 20 AFSL gets about 5 significant complaints a year: see figure 8 in paragraph 84 of ASIC Report 251 Review of financial advice industry practice. Dover is now well and truly in the top 20 AFSLs. But Dover has nowhere near this number of significant complaints. Nowhere near it. Over the last […]
So you thought you were insured
Interviews with potential Dover advisers are interesting exercises. Many do not understand how their AFSL’s compensation and insurance arrangements work. They think “they are covered for everything above $15,000”, or whatever. The questions “Who is covered?” “What is covered?” and “When it is covered?” do not get much thought. But more worrying is the common […]
AI and the future of financial planning
An AFSL licensing robo-advice will have huge compliance problems, and will probably be un-insurable. The Corporations Act contemplates ASIC licensing persons, i.e. AFSLs and their authorised representatives. The Corporations Act does not contemplate ASIC licensing algorithms or technology. The Corporations Act imposes extensive subjective advice requirements on personal advice, including the best interests duty, the […]
Will AI take your job?
Financial planning sees what it wants to see. Most advisers focus on the low possibility of a temporary income loss caused by illness or accident, and what can be done about it. Few focus on the high probability of a permanent income loss caused by technological change and redundant or inadequate skill levels, and what […]
That’s an expensive cake
Women access financial planning less than men. Women also earn less than men, accumulate less than men and retire with less than men. Women live longer than men. One third of female age pensioners live below the poverty line. It’s expected to get much worse. Single women who do not own a home suffer the […]