Industry and regulators get to grips with scale of the retirement income challenge
The joint thematic review by APRA and ASIC highlights how the challenges associated with implementing the Retirement Income Covenant are being felt by all parts of the retirement ecosystem. But given the regime is just one year old, it would be dangerous to jump to early conclusions.
AMP announces re-shaped executive line-up
Matt Lawler and Edwina Maloney will be part of the AMP executive team, along with a future head of superannuation and investments, as part of the executive re-shuffle that included the departure of wealth CEO Scott Hartley. The organisation announced the departure Hartley in May because of a move to a flattened corporate structure due … Read more
QAR intra-fund advice proposals to boost female members’ balances
Super funds that step in to offer more financial advice to members after the Quality of Advice Review are contemplating whether the new product offering could help to narrow the superannuation balance gap among male and female members. NGS Super CEO Natalie Previtera says young women could be the big winners.
MLC Life appoints head of group pricing
MLC Life Insurance has appointed Brett Pickett as head of group pricing with a focus on securing major partners in the superannuation sphere. Pickett has more than 20 years’ experience in insurance and economics, including as head of TAL’s group risk finance team and most recently leading TAL Australia’s strategic capital and commercial solutions. Brett … Read more
Iress appoints group CFO
Iress has appointed Cameron Williamson as group chief financial officer. His appointment follows a thorough candidate search and evaluation process following the appointment of previous CFO John Harris to the role of CEO of the portfolio division in April. Williamson has over 25 years of experience leading finance operations in Australia and around the world. … Read more
Qualitas makes two senior appointments
Alternative real estate investment manager Qualitas has appointed David Porter and Tom Keenan as head of institutional capital and as head of international wholesale capital, respectively. Porter, who joined Qualitas from BlackRock Australia, has 25 years’’ experience and will build and maintain relationships with institutional clients across Australia and the world, with a focus on … Read more
InvestSense appoints distribution executive amid surging growth
Portfolio construction consultant InvestSense has appointed John Nicoll as distribution executive. Nicoll has over 22 years of experience in financial services. He was previously the national head of sales at research house Zenith Investment Partners. InvestSense’s assets under management recently surpassed $2 billion.
Australia takes third place in Global Pension Transparency index
Australia was ranked third overall in the latest edition of the landmark transparency measure, lifted by AustralianSuper rocketing up the chart from seventh to third place among individual funds. But while local players ranked well on transparency over governance and performance, their disclosure of responsible investing lags global best practice.
Clearview hit with DDO stop order
ASIC has issued an interim stop order on the Clearview ClearChoice Income Protection Cover and Accidental Income Protection Cover, relating to two underlying products.
‘Government will move’: Jones threatens trustees on member engagement
Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones has warned superannuation funds the government expects them to improve member experience, including on group insurance and retirement strategies, or face consequences of regulatory intervention.
CQU students complete Term 1 with Midwinter software
Midwinter Financial Services has announced that CQUniversity Australia’s financial planning students have completed Term 1 using its financial planning software. Midwinter partnered with CQUniversity in March to provide the software to students undertaking financial planning units. With this partnership, Midwinter supports CQUniversity with access to the technology students will use once they enter the workforce, … Read more
