Every August, I spend an evening at my old school answering questions from Year 11 students as they share their post-school career options. My sessions are generally Q&A events for kids interested in small businesses. Last week’s questions ranged from what...
The problem with super is super. Since the 2002 Financial Services Review, there have been at least a dozen enquiries, commissions and reviews into Australia’s superannuation, insurance, investment, and financial services industries. Last week APRA and ASIC jointly...
If plumbers need new pipes, and if the cobbler’s kids need new shoes, does it follow that a lawyer needs new laws? Maybe. Michelle Levy’s three-page plea to the government to adopt her Quality of Advice Review recommendations in this week’s AFR is a...
There’s good and bad in the Quality of Advice Review (QAR) released by Treasury last week. The good is the proposed framework for the delivery of affordable financial products. For Australians less interested in advice and more focused on making simple purchases, the...
Do you ask your doctor what her fees will be next year? No, neither do I. Why do clients ask what the future ongoing fees will be for their financial advisers? Because, unlike doctors, they pay ongoing rent to their advisers. Is that typical of professionals?...
I used to sell shoes. Florsheim shoes. I thought I was pretty good at it. However, my mates used to say anyone could sell shoes when the shop is just outside the foyer of a Hilton Hotel. “What do you expect? If you’re going to sell fancy shoes, you’re in the perfect...
