Reading the AFR over the weekend I was taken by a story by Pip Freebairn, Project Choice Questioned, which cast light into the otherwise shady abyss of government decision making around infrastructure grants. The catalyst to Freebairn’s article is the current parliamentary enquiry into the Infrastructure Employment Projects stimulus program. I wondered about how the project selection and execution performance of major wealth firms would fair under the same scrutiny. We’ve all seen it happen: the business case doesn’t add up, but the sponsoring executive is a major influencer, so the numbers are adjusted to reflect a positive benefit in … Continue reading
The Sequential Perspective
Efficiency comes at a cost
The federal government’s Stronger Super reform package has at its core a better deal for members through lower fees and greater transparency. An honourable goal, but not one that can be achieved without significant investment. The cliché of eggs to omelettes comes to mind! In superannuation administration, you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. The coverage of the scale of investment by Superpartners provides a perfect example. A recent AFR article questions the scale of investment and duration of the Superpartners spRIGHT project, yet fails to investigate whether these were in fact controlled, conscious decisions by management … Continue reading
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Media beat-ups not super
I love a good yarn as much as the next person. And I get that in an online world of tweets and likes and three second attention spans, headlines need hooks. But this week’s effort by the Australian Financial Review tipped the scales in favour of attention-grabbing at the expense of neutrality in representing the facts. Sally Patten wrote in 4 January’s AFR of a new superannuation system rollout by Superpartners, funded by its industry fund owners, under the catchy headline “IT cost blowout not super”. The article points to a “cost blowout” and a “three-year delay” with the new … Continue reading
We’re all going to die!
There are very few circumstances where this phrase is acceptable and probably none where it’s appropriate. There are even occasions where it’s a criminal offence, yet the life insurance industry continues to use it as the mantra behind much of its advertising. Whilst it may be a way to attract attention, it’s hardly likely to be a successful way to engage consumers. I may be on my own here, but images of distraught spouses contemplating the financial future of their underinsured family just don’t resonate. They appear contrived – after all, one would hope that a camera crew doesn’t appear … Continue reading
Shed (corporate) weight fast
With the holiday season fast approaching, big businesses are making like beach-goers and rapidly slimming down. One question must surely be: why does this same process occur every year? The binge and purge mentality applied to the use of contract resource has long astounded. With each new piece of legislation, technological advancement or bright idea, executives across the country (and in fact the globe) rush to their favoured recruitment agent to procure additional warm bodies. With this tide of hiring comes an inevitable surge in prices which, in just a few short weeks or months, will be used to justify … Continue reading
A Christmas wish: technology that works
If you could put a call through to Santa this Christmas with a wish to completely replace the technology in your business, what would you choose? Apart from the seasonal tie-in, it’s an intriguing prospect at any time, one that most business leaders don’t experience in their careers. More typically they lumber their staff with ageing PCs, a standard desktop environment that improves at a snail pace and a range of applications that don’t talk to each other well. If they’re lucky, their office technology might deliver a modicum of productivity, but the holy grail of it actually being pleasant … Continue reading
Money to burn?
So I have this mate who told me that if I drip feed him money every month he has loads of ideas on how to invest it to make me heaps more money. He works in the financial markets and was pretty upfront that there are risks, but said that I can get involved and choose how risky I’m prepared to be. He also said that he’s been doing it for ages with a bunch of other friends, so I should check out how it went for them. I thought about it and decided to give him some of my … Continue reading
Not what I signed up for
The constant evolution of regulation applied to financial planning is straining the industry on many levels. Irrespective of your political persuasion or your views on the merits of the proposed reforms, the impact of uncertainty is indisputable. The credibility of the industry is in tatters, public trust is at all time lows and increasing numbers of advisers question their future. It is overly simplistic to say that the move away from commission-based remuneration is the trigger for adviser attrition. Whilst it may play a role in decision making, there are certainly many other contributing factors. Many advisers are fundamentally reassessing … Continue reading
Knowledge is power…
Household savings in Australia are soaring, thanks to fears that the Euro-zone financial challenges will cause a repeat of the events of 2008/09, and the opposition’s scare campaign surrounding the cost of living implications of the Clean Energy Future legislation. Whilst a reduction in household debt levels is generally a good thing (sorry Gerry Harvey,) it is important to ensure that the savings made don’t result in the loss of important lifestyle protections. There has been much said about the need to increase retirement savings, and the recent move to increase compulsory payments to 12% is a positive step. However, … Continue reading
Sequential to provide Business Insights to AMP Planners
PRESS RELEASE AMP Financial Planners Associations introduce Sequential Project Services ‘Business Insights’ product as a member benefit. With regulatory change placing the survival of many financial planning practices under pressure, the AMP Financial Planners Association, Hillross Advisers Association and General Insurance Advisors Association (AFPA, HAA, GIAA), which represent over 950 practices, have enlisted the support of Sequential Project Services to help their membership adapt. Sequential’s industry knowledge, understanding of the challenges associated with practice management and expertise in delivering strategic change combine to create a unique business service to both aligned and independent planners. The ongoing collaboration and preferential pricing … Continue reading
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