Mr Bird has 27 years experience in banking and financial planning, and was most recently business development manager, Victoria / Tasmania, with Lifeplan Funds Management. Prior to this he was advice quality manger with Colonial First State and was also a senior financial planner with Commonwealth Financial Planning for 11 years.  Mr Bird holds a diploma of Financial Planning.

Mr Derek Emery, head of specialised product sales, Lifeplan Funds Management, says the growth within the team is a reflection of the re-emergence of interest from financial planning groups and advisers in the use of investment bonds as they strive for quality of advice outcomes for their clients

“For many advisers, this has been a forgotten tax structure until recently, and for others it is a brand new opportunity opening up alternative solutions for clients.

“Greg’s appointment increases the experience and depth of the leadership team within Lifeplan Funds Management and provides additional technical and sales support to the BDM team.

“Greg’s years of experience as a financial planner, in conjunction with his BDM approach, have resulted in first class feedback from planners, financial planning group leaders, and peers.

“Greg has been a proven performer within the sales team over the past few years and achieved industry recognition in 2014 as the National BDM of the Year,” Mr Emery says.

Mr Bird will continue to work with key relationships within the Victorian market that have been established over recent years, as recruitment for a Victorian BDM takes place.

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Matt Walsh

With the Federal Government closing down or reducing thresholds on many benefits, the social security means test threshold for funeral bonds has bucked this trend, increasing to $12,000 from July 1.

Matt Walsh, head of Lifeplan Funds Management, says one of the key benefits of funeral bonds is that they are exempt, up to the $12,000 threshold, from testing under the Assets and Income Test.

“For an individual subject to the Assets Test, a funeral bond could increase their pension by up to $18 per fortnight, which is equivalent to a 3.9% return on the $12,000 investment, in addition to what investment return is achieved,” says Mr Walsh.

For someone assessed under the Income Test, the benefit may be up to $8 per fortnight.

Mr Walsh pointed to the example of Betty, a woman in her early 70s, who owns her own home.

Her current position is:

^ Assumes deductible amount equals or exceeds payments received.

* Amounts over these thresholds reduce pension entitlement. Source: Department of Human Services ‘A Guide to Australian Government Payments 1 July 2014’.

Under the Income Test, Betty would be entitled to a fortnightly Centrelink Age Pension of $766 (maximum basic rate), however, the Asset Test results in a reduced rate of $544 per fortnight.

Moving $12,000 of her term deposit/cash assets into a funeral bond would increase her fortnightly pension to $562, an increase of $18 per fortnight.

“As the $12,000 limit exemption is based on the purchase value of the funeral bond, and not the account balance, it also provides the opportunity for retirees to top up their investment,” Mr Walsh says.

“For example, with a bond worth $12,200 now but purchased with $11,500 a couple of years ago, the opportunity exists to top up this amount by $500,” Mr Walsh explains.

Mr Walsh says research shows that cost is a key influencer when planning a funeral, rating more highly than religion and family traditions.

“Research undertaken by McCrindle shows that for 66 percent of Australians, cost is an extremely or significantly influential consideration. It was considered more important than religion, at 31 percent, and family traditions, at 27 per cent.*

With a number of different options available for those wanting to save for future funeral costs, Mr Walsh says the favourable social security treatment of funeral bonds, and the increase in the exempt threshold, is a compelling reason to take a closer look at funeral bonds.

“With so much negative media and poor views from consumer bodies about funeral insurance, funeral bonds remain the one consumer friendly way to provide for your final expense,” Mr Walsh concludes.

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Matt Walsh

Education costs have increased by 81 percent over the past 15 years* and have outstripped wages growth and inflation over the same period, research by Lifeplan Funds Management has shown.

With the recent Federal Budget announcing initiatives that cast doubt of the long-term future of the Gonski education reforms, and changes that will increase the cost of university fees, saving for education expenses is more important than ever.

Matt Walsh, head of Lifeplan, said that for many years, education costs have been one of the fastest-rising components of the ‘basket’ of goods used to measure CPI.

“Since March 1999, education costs have outpaced CPI by 83 percent, and have outpaced wages by 19.5 percent.

“Furthermore, while wages growth has historically kept pace with education cost increases, over the last year education costs have risen faster than wages, which is a worrying trend and one that parents should be aware of when considering their children’s education.”

Mr Walsh said that parents will need to actively plan for their children’s schooling if they wish to have the funds available to pay for fees, additional tuition or extra-curricular activities.

“This is particularly true of parents considering a private school education for their children, as private schools tend to pass on the full increase in their own costs through fees. With the proposed changes in the Federal Budget to the way university students will pay for their education, it seems likely that university fees will see similar increases in coming years.

“But even parents relying on the public school system may be taken by surprise at the amount they will need to spend to ensure their children have the books and equipment they require.

“Providing for a child’s education is an increasingly expensive endeavour, and likely to become even more so in the future if the education cuts proposed in last month’s Federal Budget are passed,” Mr Walsh said.

“Australia’s public education system is likely to become more expensive for parents, who will need to foot the bill for more and more of their children’s school activities and requirements. As funding for schools becomes tighter, parents will be expected to provide the finances for sports uniforms or musical equipment, or even laptops or iPads that are now becoming standard items.

“Rather than try to pay for such things out of day-to-day cashflow, families should consider putting money aside even before their child starts school, so they have a fund to dip into to help cover future education expenses,” Mr Walsh said.

“A basic education savings plan doesn’t need to fully cover all the costs of a child’s education from kindergarten to university, but can simply be treated as a way to help ease the everyday burden of those costs as they arise.

“That way, paying for a school excursion or a computer doesn’t become an unexpected financial problem,” he said.

*Source: ABS March 2014

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Matt Walsh

Investor satisfaction with financial advisers is at its highest level since the inception of the Lifeplan ICFS Financial Advice Satisfaction Index in 2007, according to the April 2014 survey results.

Lifeplan Funds Management with the University of Adelaide undertakes a survey every six months. It looks at changes in investors’ attitudes towards financial advisers including their perception of their financial adviser’s trust and reliability, technical ability, and investment performance.

The satisfaction index increased to 74.5 per cent, up from 72.3 per cent in October 2013. The April 2014 survey saw an increase of 3 per cent over the October 2013 survey, and an increase of 2.6 per cent over the April 2013 survey.

All three drivers of advocacy – perception of performance, trust and reliability, technical ability – increased since the October 2013 survey. The largest increase among the three drivers of advocacy was for the perception of performance, which increased by 4.13 per cent. The perception of trust and reliability increased by 2.2 per cent, while the perception of adviser technical ability increased by 2.9 per cent.

Mr Matt Walsh, head of Lifeplan, says this improvement in perception is due to better client – adviser relationships.

“Not enough has changed in the domestic and global landscape since the October 2013 survey to move the index this much, but the quality of advice seems to have improved when benchmarked against the capital markets.

“While the domestic equity market index, the ASX200, continued to show gains for the past year of 8 per cent, it has not reached the 2007 levels.

“Despite capital markets not yet achieving pre-GFC levels, the Index and its three drivers are at record levels. This indicates that financial advisers, in an increasing complex and dynamic capital market, are providing value-added services.”

The survey results, on the back of the implementation of FoFA, should also reinforce the Government’s decision to pause any wind back of the reforms.

“Finally after years of reforms and post-GFC recovery, we have record levels of satisfaction with financial advisers, and that should be celebrated and built upon. A wind back could raise the ogre of commissions again which can work against the public’s confidence in financial advisers.”

In line with previous survey findings, female investors continue to show a higher level of perception regarding their financial advisers, across all three attributes, than male investors. Nevertheless, the survey found that male investors showed a very strong increase in all three drivers of perception over the period.

“Overall, investors in the 30-44 age bracket showed the strongest increase in all three drivers of perception, and now have the same or higher levels as investors in the 45-60 age group.

“This group assess the level of trust and reliability as lower than older group. This is expected as they have had shorter duration with their current financial adviser, and as the client-adviser relationship continues there will be an improvement in the level of this driver.

“Financial advisers should remain particularly vigilant with clients early in the advice relationship, as trust takes time to build and should not be taken for granted,” says Mr Walsh.

“Investors in the 45-60 year age group seem most satisfied with the quality of advice they are receiving, and this group seems to be most affected by the technical abilities of their financial adviser, as well as the performance due to financial advice.

“As the advice relationship seasons, clients become more financially literate and have a better understanding of the long term benefits and outcomes of the planning relationship. Planning is rarely about quick fixes or the short term”.

“Financial dvisers need to maintain a high level of technical ability to satisfy these older individuals with markedly higher levels of financial literacy,” Mr Walsh concluded.

Lifeplan Funds Management is a specialist business of Australian Unity Investments. It is the market leader in investment and funeral bonds, and leading provider of education investment funds.The Lifeplan ICFS Financial Advice Satisfaction Index was established in 2007 and is a tool for financial advisers that want to improve their levels of client service. It is based on academic research that models the factors that explain a client’s willingness to recommend their financial adviser to a friend or acquaintance.

The research also analyses how investors’ age, levels of investment and length of their relationship with their adviser impact these attributes. It is sponsored by Lifeplan Funds Management and conducted every six months by the University of Adelaide’s International Centre for Financial Services.

The survey of 403 investors who use financial advisers was undertaken in March 2014 by the University of Adelaide’s International Centre for Financial Services (ICFS) for Lifeplan, and sought feedback about the performance, trust and reliability, and technical ability of their financial adviser.

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