The ASX will intensify its lobbying of dealer groups to include listed products on their approved lists in the wake of a new survey that found a decline in the use of such products by financial planners.
In its second annual survey of the financial planning market, the ASX, in association with ACNielsen, discovered a surprising drop in the proportion of advisers who use direct listed investments from 83 per cent to 76 per cent. The ASX said a crucial strategy to bolster the use of listed products by advisers would be to target the approved lists of dealer groups. “As the majority of respondents use an approved list, having listed investments on that list is key,” the ASX said in the survey results. “With 85 per cent of respondents citing their dealer group as being responsible for compiling the approved lists, [this] suggests that the dealer groups need to be encouraged to place listed investments on that list.” The ASX has attempted to engage directly with the financial planning market for several years but has had to endure a couple of notable failures including its much-vaunted ‘hub’ project that was canned in 2003 after chewing up $5 million. The stock exchange also had ambitious plans to list many managed funds, which also fell by the wayside. However, as its latest survey revealed, the ASX has not given up on the adviser market and has developed a three-pronged strategy to win the hearts and minds of financial planners. The ASX said it would: develop strategies to increase the proportion of financial planners who use listed investments; continue to promoted listed investments to financial planners and their clients, and; continue to develop a relationship with dealer groups and financial planners. The survey of 740 people, of which 79 per cent were financial planners, also found that those who use listed products have increased their portfolio weighting to the sector from 56 per cent to 60 per cent. “Also, among users those placing at least 20 trades per month increased from 17 per cent to 28 per cent, while those placing four or less trades per month decreased from 52 per cent to 27 per cent,” the report said. The ASX was also encouraged that only 18 per cent of respondents thought it had no place in the financial planning market.
The brunt of losses from the LA wildfires are expected to be borne by primary insurers and high-risk reinsurance programs, but super funds are nevertheless closely monitoring the possible impact of the fires on catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities exposures.
Simon HoyleJanuary 17, 2025
