IOOF CEO Renato Mota
IOOF has ticked the final regulatory box in its bid to purchase the MLC network from NAB after the prudential regulator announced its approval of IOOF’s application to hold a controlling stake in NULIS Nominees, the superannuation trustee for MLC’s superannuation business.
On Thursday APRA released a short statement confirming the approval, which was followed five minutes later by an IOOF update approved by its clearly relieved CEO, Renato Mota.
“APRA’s approval satisfies the final regulatory condition precedent necessary to complete the acquisition of MLC,” Mota stated. “Central to our engagement with APRA was demonstrating how IOOF’s strategic intent will deliver improved member outcomes.”
Queensland MP Bert van Manen has become an ubiquitous voice in advice.
As a former adviser, the member for the Gold Coast electorate of Forde is comfortable speaking about the challenges advisers face and does so on numerous platforms, from parliamentary joint committee enquiries to industry and association events.
“I had my own advice business for nearly 12 years before entering politics so I have a good understanding of how advice can help people,” he tells
Professional Planner.
He also holds considerable influence within the government; van Manen has served as chief whip since 2019, which means it’s his job to make sure liberal party members toe the sitting government’s policy line.
AMP has called out platform providers on the use of industry rate cards that give non-disclosed discounts to preferred clients depending on scale and other metrics.
In a release today announcing that the wealth giant would reduce fees on its own MyNorth, North and Summit platforms to combat the practice, AMP called for a more transparent approach from other platform providers.
“These are highly competitive and transparent fees, which we have introduced as a response to the use of advice licensee or advice practice rate cards by many in the industry, which we see as distorting the system and creating member equity issues in the super and pension wrap products,” new AMP Australia chief executive Scott Hartley stated.
Australian wealth management clients are significantly less concerned about hidden fees and costs in their advice relationship than their global counterparts according to new research from consultancy Ernst & Young.
Data out of the
2021 EY Global Wealth Research Report reveals that while 83 per cent of Australian advice clients are aware of “trading and products fees”, 29 per cent remained concerned about hidden costs when working with their adviser.
While the domestic figure is high – EY report “there is still some scope to continue to improve transparency and education locally” – a full 42 per cent of global advice clients registered concern about hidden costs.
ASIC has conceded that it has discretion on the ballooning adviser levy, not long after outgoing chair James Shipton implied that the corporate regulator’s hands were tied due to the “mechanical” industry funding model.
In a recent response to a question from Liberal MP Andrew Wallace, which was taken on notice at the PJC enquiry in late March, ASIC explained how it consulted on industry funding arrangements through its Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS) with Treasury and the Finance Minister, but took control thereafter.
“ASIC, as an independent regulator, has discretion over the allocation of resources,” the regulator stated. “ASIC has the discretion to waive levies in exceptional circumstances. ASIC also considers applications to pay levies via a payment plan in cases of financial hardship.”