NICOLE MCMILLAN   Financial advisers have been knowingly charging fees to customers who died up to a decade ago. Bank employees accepted cash bribes to falsify proof of employment documents in loan ...STEPHEN ROMIC   The Royal Commission has the financial services industry on edge. Both large institutions and small are sitting up and paying attention as they have never before. Big changes are ...

KANIKA SOOD   Three men sit huddled together, watching a video that plays on a computer screen in a large-ish empty room. Sounds like a late-night university study session? Only the men are ...ANDREW MACKEN   In 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered Yale's graduating class of 1962 a piece of advice that all investors should hold dear: "The great enemy of truth is very often ...

PAUL CRONIN   Insurance has long been viewed as a relatively stable offering within the financial services sector. Traditionally, people paid their premiums on a regular basis with monies invested ...NOBLEOAK LIFE INSURANCE   The traditional decision making models of 'needs awareness', 'information search', through to the 'purchase decision' is fast becoming outdated in the new ...

JEROEN VAN OERLE   Robo-advice is a hotly debated topic in the fintech space. On the one hand it has opened up the low-wealth market, that was previously unservable, to finally be consulted on their ...HUB24 PTY LTD   In a world where technology is reshaping the way we live, it was always a question of when, not if, digital innovation would change the way consumers manage their money and their ...

WILLIAM FETTES   An individual's total superannuation balance (TSB) determines many of their superannuation rights and entitlements, such as eligibility to contribute after-tax amounts into superannuation ...DANIEL BUTLER   While there are a large number of cryptocurrencies in existence (currently over 1600), this article will focus on Bitcoin for simplicity. Our comments contained here may apply ...

NATHAN ZAHM   For most Australian retirees, the age pension is a meaningful portion of their retirement income, and for all retirees it should be considered as part of the retirement planning ...JEREMY COOPER   Former Prime Minister Paul Keating conceded some years ago that the super system was not designed for people who were going to live over the age of 80. The system he conceived ...

STUART SHEARY   For employees who do not have enough money saved to buy a car outright there are a number of options. They can finance the purchase through a private loan, private car lease or ...YVONNE CHU   WHAT'S CHANGED? From 1 July 2017, the 10% test that previously applied to personal deductible contributions has been removed. As a result, all clients under the age of 75 (including ...

VINCE BATTAGLIA   Possible law reforms are on the agenda following the conclusion of the second round of hearings of the Financial Services Royal Commission. We identify the trends arising from ...MELANIE YOUNIS   The collapse of the Westpoint group and the loss of many millions of dollars of investors' funds has been the subject of much publicity. ASIC has recently announced that it ...

MELANIE DUNN   The superannuation reforms applying from 1 July 2017 made a number of changes impacting transition to retirement income streams and their use by retirees. A transition to retirement ...FINANCIAL STANDARD   We invite readers to send their burning questions on the latest investment trends to underthemicroscope@financialstandard.com.au . In this issue, we talk to Bell Direct equities ...

CLAUDIA PRITCHITT   In the past decade, the media serving financial services has changed almost as much as the financial services industry itself. Financial services changes have been regulatory as ...NAOMI CHRISTOPHER   The rapid evolution of digital, mobile and social technology has propelled the financial advice industry into an era of transformative agility and adaptability. Australian financial ...