Concern at undisclosed planner payments

Count Financial chief executive David Lane has expressed concern at the existence of undeclared payments in the financial planning industry used to lure planners from one dealer group to another.

Speaking at the Money Management Platforms and Wraps Conference in the Hunter Valley, Lane said this issue had flown under the radar with respect to regulatory oversight.

Agreeing with Lane, Paragem principal Ian Knox said it was inconceivable that a planner who received such a payment was not then expected to direct client funds towards the platform owned by the company which had made the payment.

The panel agreed that Government policy had forced the consolidation and vertical integration of the planning industry without the legislators necessarily fully understanding the consequences or the impact on the competitive of the industry.

Addressing a different topic at the panel discussion, IOOF managing director Chris Kelaher argued it would be more appropriate to direct many investors towards small Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)-regulated funds than into self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).

Kelaher was responding to a question about the manner in which offerings such as SMSFs and industry funds had impacted the traditional platforms industry.

He said recent events had highlighted the value of belonging to a fund with a professional trustee regulated by APRA compared with membership of an SMSF regulated by the Australian Taxation Office after the event.