Who will help consumers see the true value of life insurance?

Australia’s life insurance industry is facing significant headwinds, driven by regulatory reform, margin pressure and the evolving adviser landscape. The Life Insurance Framework (LIF) review, Protecting Your Super and Putting …

An Apple to pay keeps BNPL away

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s Payments System Board Annual Report 2019 has revealed that they are scheduled to review card payments regulation in 2020, which could lead to regulatory changes. …

Give financial planners a break and let them focus on the client

Financial planner bashing has become a national sport. The financial advice industry has battled consumer and media perceptions that advisers are a bunch of cowboys flogging products to line their …

The twilight of China’s population and the dawn of its retirement industry

Most of the developed world has enjoyed a population growth dividend lasting for five or six decades in preparation for dealing with an ageing population. But China has enjoyed only …

Bursting the filter bubble to escape a ‘weatherless world’

From its earliest days, digital technology has sought to help us sift through the information overload to discover relevance. While this promised to broaden our horizons it has in fact …

Libra: Why Facebook’s currency will bring more convenience and more threats

To some people, the “whitepaper” and “blockchain” are synonymous with “scam”. But when Facebook, the social network giant with 2.4 billion monthly active users, announced its grand plan of a …

From the Catholic Church to Leonard Cohen: why zero point zero should frighten you

The idea of nothing has an interesting history in mathematics, and there’s even a theory that the Catholic Church tried to outlaw the concept of zero because the idea of …

Rethinking the risks and returns of misconduct

Like many Australians, I did a fair bit of travelling around the country over Christmas and New Year, which involved driving thousands of kilometres across NSW, Queensland and Tasmania. The …

Can the Royal Commission create a new industry hero?

From myth and the first recorded stories in ancient history to present-day movie blockbusters, humans appear to be obsessed with the idea of the hero. The “hero’s journey” narrative pops …

Banking on inertia post the Royal Commission

Although the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry is probably nowhere near its conclusion, it certainly has already had an impact on the public’s …

Why lazy customers could save you today but kill you tomorrow

In most businesses, customer apathy is not a good thing. If your customer is apathetic, they’re unlikely to feel loyal towards your business, let alone be an advocate for your …

Chicken Little, ostriches and the real role of leaders

On June 4 and 5 the heads of leading financial planning licensees met in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney for the annual Professional Planner Licensee Summit. It’s fair to …

CoreData Announces The 2018 Australian Licensee Award Winners

CoreData Announces The 2018 Australian Licensee Award Winners Changes to adviser loyalty, satisfaction and needs have driven significant swings for some licensee’s in the Annual CoreData Licensee Survey – highlighting …

Don’t Let The Royal Commission Do All The Talking

Well then. What a whirlwind the royal commission’s public hearings on financial advice were. Heads rolled – not least of all, the AMP chairman and CEO – and billions of …

The royal commission and the damage done

When the royal commission ends I will have a new job for Kenneth Hayne. I am going to pay him to record Australian poems for me to listen to. Not …