Industry funds hypocritical on vertical integration
Industry superannuation funds were guilty of hypocrisy when they attacked the vertically integrated nature of financial services companies, according to Fiducian head platform services, Patrick Jackson.
Jackson told the Fiducian annual conference on Friday that while industry funds had been attacking vertical integration for a long time, this overlooked the vertically-integrated nature of their own operations.
"Industry funds are as vertically-integrated as anyone else," he said.
Jackson also questioned the validity of the industry funds' advertising campaign, arguing that while they had been allowed to advertise to create scale, this had not necessarily been translated into lower fees for industry fund members.
"There advertising campaigns are pretty negative and I believe they are designed to kill off competitors," he said.
However Jackson said he believed attacks on business models were misconceived.
"The problem is really not business models," he said. "The problem resides in issues such as poor compliance, sales culture, poor administration and improper remuneration structures."
Recommended for you
ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test.
Quarterly Wealth Data analysis has uncovered positive improvements in financial adviser numbers compared with losses in the prior corresponding period.
Holding portfolios that are too complex or personalised can be a detractor for acquirers of financial advice firms as they require too much effort to maintain post-acquisition.
As the financial advice profession continues to wait on further DBFO legislation, industry commentators have encouraged advisers to act now in driving practice efficiency.
