- FPA Research Finds Few Seeking Advice
- Futuro Completes Succesion Plan
- ASIC Bans Former Macquarie Representative
FPA Research Finds Few Seeking Advice
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has launched its 16th annual Financial Planning Week with the release of research that has found 63% of Australians have not created a financial plan for their future and 25% have never sought financial advice when making financial decisions.
Research conducted among 1,016 Australians split across Baby Boomers (born 1946 – 1964), Generation X (born 1965 – 1979) and Generation Y (born 1980 – 1994) also found that women are far less likely than men to seek advice from a professional financial planner.
The survey, conducted by McCrindle Research in July 2016, found only 34% of 20-51 year old women have put a financial plan together with advice from someone else, compared to 46% of same-aged men.
According to the research released by the FPA the cause of this difference was that men have a much higher level of self-belief in their ability to create the life they want in future and that women more often identified with being unhappy with what they’ve achieved so far in life than men.
“The findings of our Dare to Dream research show that as a nation, we are dreaming more than we did five years ago, but we often aren’t living to our full potential. This might be because of fear, apathy, or a lack of planning. For financial planners, these are valuable insights into their client base,” said FPA Chief Executive, Dante De Gori.
“The good news is that 82% of those surveyed are optimistic about their future, and we believe that with the right advice this optimism can translate to achieving their dreams.
Futuro Completes Succession Plan
Futuro Financial Services Managing Director, Dennis Bashford has stood down from that role and become the group’s Executive Chairman as part of a restructure of the group’s executive team and implementation of its succession plan.
Bashford’s role as Managing Director has been filled by his business partner, Paul Kelly with the transition of roles have taken place over the past 12 months and recently ratified by the group.
Bashford said the succession plan resulted in a redistribution of responsibilities throughout the management team but would not result in his retirement.
“Futuro is looking to exploit Dennis’s standing in the industry which will see his focus becoming much more strategic and considering that he has been in the industry since its inception we are keen to see his experience, contacts and knowledge being fully exploited. His change of role has already delivered significant value to Futuro and this will become patently manifest in the immediate future,” Kelly said.
Bashford stated he was enjoying his new role and which provided ‘uninterrupted “think-time”’ and that he “now had a plausible excuse to spend more time on his yacht and still add value to the business”.
ASIC Bans Former Macquarie Representative
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a former Macquarie Equities Limited representative from providing financial services for five years after finding he engaged in unauthorised discretionary trading on his client accounts, provided inappropriate advice and created false records.
ASIC banned Nicholas Kerr, of Carindale, Queensland, who was a representative of Macquarie Equities Limited from March 2008 to August 2013 after it found that during that period he engaged in discretionary trading on five client accounts.
Macquarie Equities had prohibited its representatives from engaging in discretionary trading on behalf of clients since 2004 and reported Kerr’s conduct to ASIC which found he breached financial services laws by stating he was authorised to operate a discretionary trading account in circumstances where he was not.
ASIC also found Kerr had created false records stating he had provided advice to clients prior to trading when he had not and the advice provided to five of his clients was not appropriate to those clients, having regard to their personal circumstances.
Kerr has a right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.
