FS Advice

The Ethics Index

GOVERNANCE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA   Now in its seventh year, the Ethics Index puts a spotlight on key sectors, organisations, occupations and influences, and measures our response to a set of difficult questions and topical issues.

Walking the talk on trust

RAY MCHALE   Are you walking the talk on trust? As abstract and amorphous as the concept of trust may appear, we all implicitly know how essential it is to business success. Nothing meaningful or valuable happens without it.

Halal investing versus ethical investing

HEJAZ FINANCIAL SERVICES   Halal investing is a process that aligns with Islamic principles and is sometimes called Shariah investing or Shariah-compliant investing.

Is the 'passive versus active' argument flawed?

GRANT PEARSON   This managed fund comparison is often accepted on face value but is it valid?

A ticking time bomb

JONATHAN LIGHT, VALESKA BLOCH, JOSHUA ANDERSON, EMILIANA GALLEGO   Insurers heavily scrutinise organisations' ability to prevent, anticipate and withstand cyber-attacks when deciding whether or not to offer cyber insurance.

Gearing and insurance

NADIA CASSIDY   With the considerable changes to insurance since the Life Insurance Framework and changes legislated by The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) in the last few years, insurance is an area that we are seeing advisers approach less and less.

Are NFTs and NFPs a match made in heaven?

DARREN FITTLER   Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) exploded in popularity in 2021. Fundraising teams within some charities and not-for-profits (NFPs) who were in the midst of pivoting their strategies because of COVID-19, took note of this demand and used NFTs to raise substantial sums for their causes.

AI regulation in Australia

SIMON BURNS, JEN BRADLEY   The Australian Government has recently released the discussion paper Supporting responsible AI: discussion paper, seeking industry feedback to inform the government's approach to regulating AI-whether through mandatory or voluntary mechanisms-to help support responsible AI practices and mitigate potential risks.

Courts turn up the heat on SMSF inheritance disputes

HAYLEY CONDON   Growing risks in trustee discretion and conflicts of interest are continuously seen for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) and estate dispute trends, with advisers needing to become increasingly wary of changing litigation risks to protect assets held in superannuation and estate planning generally.

Maximising superannuation savings with carry-forward concessional contributions

RUDY HADDAD   The ability to carry forward unused annual concessional contribution (CC) cap amounts since 2018/19 provides some welcome financial planning opportunities, especially in the current environment where the annual CC cap is historically very low.

The decumulation puzzle

SIMON BRINSMEAD, MEHER EDIBAM   The UK defined contribution (DC) pension system is a relatively immature system compared with three decades of defined contribution history here in Australia. Despite this, the UK is already making significant progress in moving forward with ideas to make retirement simple for members.

Industry super funds should consider aged care

ASSYAT DAVID   Aged care is becoming an important advice area, not only for older members but also for younger members who either need to make arrangements for parents or are planning for their own future aged care needs. Here are five reasons why industry superannuation funds need to support members with aged care advice.

Superannuation 'death tax'

BRETT DAVIES   When a person dies with money in superannuation two questions arise. Firstly, who does that money go to and how can you ensure that it goes to the people you choose? And secondly, what tax will be payable by the recipients and what steps can be taken to reduce the tax burden?

Year-end tax tips for 2023

KMT PARTNERS   As the end of the 2022/23 income year approaches, this paper explores a number of ways to minimise your tax liability and outlines changes to working-from-home tax deductions.

Breach reporting update

JAMES KANABAR, KERENSA SNEYD   The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)  has made some helpful amendments via the ASIC Corporations and Credit (Amendment) Instrument 2023/589 (the Instrument) to Australian Financial Service (AFS) and credit licensees' obligations regarding certain breach reporting under the reportable situations regime (the Regime).

AI in compliance

PAUL DERHAM   Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents unique regulatory and other risks that need to be managed.

How increases to income support partially negate inflation

MICHAEL TRAN   Recent data suggests inflation may have peaked,[i] however, it remains high and above the inflation target of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Timing it right: Dealing with annual and long service leave upon retirement

RAHUL SINGH   Retirement is an important milestone for clients in the journey of life and advisers ideally want clients to seek advice well before the event. This article explores some of the financial planning considerations in dealing with leave entitlements.

CX: Experiences that keep your customers coming back

JODIE KNOWLTON   The way customers or clients interact with businesses has rapidly evolved in recent years. What has not changed, however, is the need to provide an outstanding experience in order to retain those customers.

Lessons for communicating risk and uncertainty

SIMON RUSSELL   For those who never saw the film Don't Look Up, it is a movie about how the human race responds when they discover that a large comet is on a collision course with Earth. One interesting aspect about the movie was how it dealt with risk and uncertainty in decision-making.