Professional Investment Services has completed their Ongoing Monitoring Program (OMP) following ASIC’s recognition of the team’s significant improvement in the quality of advice, compliance and audit functions and a commitment to enhancing its financial advice risk management framework.

‘We are very pleased to announce the conclusion of Professional Investment Services’ Ongoing Monitoring Program with ASIC,’ says Centrepoint Managing Director John de Zwart.

‘This is another key milestone in the execution of the Group’s strategy and most importantly,increasing the quality of financial advice Australians receive.’

Professional Investment Services entered into the OMP of its financial advice risk management framework following the conclusion of its Enforceable Undertaking in 2013.

‘Over the past 12 months, we have made transformational strides in the business and we appreciate everyone’s support in this ongoing journey to build high quality business around high quality practices.

‘ASIC has acknowledged the changes we have made in our own business and now it’s our job to transform our industry and the way in which wealth advice and services are delivered to Australians,’says de Zwart.

Following the conclusion of the OMP, neither Professional Investment Services, nor any entity within the Centrep

The post Centrepoint announces conclusion of Professional Investment Services’ OMP after lifting the bar on advice appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Jenny Brown

Leading Professional Investment Services practices JBS Financial Strategists and Evalesco Financial Services have been nominated for best financial planning website in the Financial Standard MAX Awards.

The MAX Award criteria for the best financial planning website category was based on utility, navigation, relevance and functionality for the end-user, namely the practices’ clients and potential clients.

‘It’s great to be recognised for the extensive work we at JBS put into our online presence – it’s the way the world is moving and we need to keep up,’ says Jenny.

Marshall and Jenny’s sites were nominated by the public via online submissions, based on their engaging visual and audio aspects as well as their consistent online presence through social media.

‘More often than not, Evalesco’s website is the first point of contact a client or potential client has with us, so it’s vital that we cut through the noise with content that is relevant, fresh and fun. Our Financial MasterClass series, which was released with MasterChef is a perfect example of this’ says Marshall.

Professional Investment Services’ parent company Centrepoint Alliance’s Head of Distribution Strategy and Marketing Neil Rogan says Marshall and Jenny’s nomination is in line with Centrepoint’s ethos for utilising best practice technology.

‘We’re proud of Marshall and Jenny’s commitment in using technology to enhance their practices’ client engagement opportunities,’ says Neil.

This isn’t the first time these dynamic professionals have been nominated for industry awards – in 2013 Jenny took out the title of AFA’s Adviser of the Year and the FS Smiley Scholar of the Year and Marshall won the FS Smileys Influencer Award.

‘Online communication has opened a whole new world for us to connect with our clients and publicise the work we do at Evalesco – including regular blog articles, videos and real-time Twitter updates – and our website is the doorway to all of these channels,’ says Marshall.

Both of these innovative advisers recently presented as part of Professional Investment Services’ Business Leaders’ panel at the annual conference in Shanghai, China.

‘It was great sharing our insights with the broader Professional Investment Services network, especially from a different perspective than what they’re used to – namely our marketing and client engagement strategies,’ says Jenny.

Jenny has been at the forefront of the financial advice industry of late, including winning 2013’s AFA Financial Adviser of the Year and representing women in financial services and various industry events.

Click here to to cast your vote for the best financial planning website.

The post Top PIS advisers nominated again for industry award appeared first on AdviserVoice.

The expert monitoring program follows the conclusion in March 2012 of an EU ASIC accepted from PIS in December 2010 (refer 10-275AD). ASIC had concerns that compliance and audit functions required further work. This action demonstrates that ASIC will follow up on EU outcomes where necessary.

The expert will report back to ASIC each quarter.

PIS is one of Australia’s largest financial planning firms, with 527 advisers.

The monitoring will test compliance of PIS’s personal advice with regulatory requirements, its ability to identify poor advice and the effectiveness of its advice audit and pre-vet functions.

PIS has cooperated with ASIC’s inquiries. ASIC acknowledges the work done by PIS as a result of the EU and the monitoring program provides an opportunity to assess whether the implementation of the recommendations at the EU’s conclusion have been effective.

ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell said, ‘ASIC is focused on ensuring advisers do the right thing, so we will require further compliance reviews if we have concerns that advice standards are not consistently at appropriate levels.

‘ASIC recognises the positive response of PIS to the concerns identified and we encourage all financial services licensees to undertake robust testing of their processes to ensure consumers get high-quality advice’.

ASIC will continue to monitor PIS’s advice process and its response to the independent expert’s findings.

The post Professional Investment Services enters into monitoring program appeared first on AdviserVoice.