POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Industry funds attack commissions-based advice
The Industry Superannuation Funds Network (ISFN) has raised both the AMP enforceable undertaking and the issue of shelf fees as clear arguments against the provision of commissions-based financial advice in the superannuation industry.
In a submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into structure of the superannuation industry, the ISFN called for changes to the legislative obligations governing the provision of financial advice “to increase the professional duties imposed on financial advisers and ban commissions on superannuation guarantee payments”.
The submission went on to argue that commissions, particularly trailing commissions, significantly undermined retirement savings.
“Trail commissions are funded by the fund manager deducting a payment that would typically range between 0.4 and 1 per cent of invested funds and paying this amount to the adviser for the entire period that the client remains in the product,” it said. “The ongoing nature of this commission means that it eats into the client’s savings and is magnified by the impact of compound interest.
“Given the erosive effects of percentage-based fees notionally charged by advice, the ISFN recommends that commission-based charges for advice funded from the superannuation product be banned,” the submission said.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
Recommended for you
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
With private asset valuations emerging as a key concern for both regulators and the broader market, Apollo Global Management has called on the corporate regulator to issue clear principles on valuation practices, including guidance on the disclosures it expects from market participants.
Institutional asset owners are largely rethinking their exposure to the US, with private markets increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment allocation, new research has shown.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
92.15 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
53.24 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
43.15 3 y p.a(%)
4
DomaCom Shoreline North Coogee
36.26 3 y p.a(%)
5
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
35.87 3 y p.a(%)
