On 1 January 2020, FASEA’s code of ethics became enforceable by law, requiring advisers to comply with its 12 detailed standards. Each standard is explored in detail in FASEA’s guidance. This article, sponsored by GSFM, examines the implications of this in practice and explores ways to ensure your practice and all who work within it meet those ethical obligations. It’s just one year since the final report from The Royal ...

It’s hard to imagine, but statistics show up to 10 per cent of older Australians experience elder abuse. This may be financial, legal, emotional, physical or plain neglect. Sadly, much of this abuse hidden in families, where the majority of perpetrators lurk, and victims don’t know how to stop it. Financial abuse of elders is on the rise; whether it is longevity causing intergenerational wealth transfers to occur much later ...

Introduction “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” This was the question posed by Edward Lorenz[1], an American meteorologist and a pioneer of chaos theory who coined the term ‘butterfly effect’. For those of us observing and/or involved in the post-Hayne life insurance sector – where the words ‘unintended consequences’ are heard and uttered frequently – the analogy of chaos theory may ...

Australian insurance literacy is low by world standards. Australians who receive financial advice are more likely to have better literacy levels and a better understanding of their own position. In this article, Zurich explores the need for advice and provides some strategies for articulating your value to clients. The need for risk advice There’s a good reason for risk advice. The laissez-faire attitude to insurance taken by many Australians has ...