Is financial advice riddled with scandals because there are just a few bad apples or is there an inherent conflict in the profession?
Financial advice in Australia started with insurance brokers going door to door dispensing advice, and that slowly edged its way into financial advice then, compulsory superannuation set the industry off and racing. There have been scandals, collapses, merges, soft approaches to regulations and a history of skewed priorities. The drive for competition saw a lack of self-regulation that lead, ultimately to the Banking Royal Commission and an opportunity to expose the worst operators and the bad advice being dispensed. Incompetence, conflicts of interest and greed are all exposed.
Where to from here? ASIC and APRA have become emboldened, but where will ordinary Australians be going to receive the best direction for a secure financial future? Annelise Nielsen has watched and studied the implosion of the financial services sector and in clear language, wades through the weasel words to provide some clarity.