Tower supports retaining commissions


Commission payments should continue to be made to financial advisers with respect to superannuation-related insurance, according to Tower Australia.
In a submission to the Cooper Review, Tower said it believed “remuneration is a contractual matter between the adviser and the member or employer-sponsor (as relevant)”.
“So long as the adviser has provided advice on the type and/or amount of insurance cover the member receives through the fund, then they should be entitled to remuneration, which may be paid through commission,” the submission said.
It said that where the adviser was providing personal advice, the commission would need to be agreed to by the member and disclosed in their Financial Services Guide.
However, the insurer’s submission acknowledged that the situation would be different where employer-sponsored arrangements were concerned because the adviser would be providing services to the employer sponsor.
Notwithstanding this, it claimed the commission would still need to be disclosed and the member would have the opportunity to opt-out if they were unhappy.
Recommended for you
Net cash flow on AMP’s platforms saw a substantial jump in the last quarter to $740 million, while its new digital advice offering boosted flows to superannuation and investment.
Insignia Financial has provided an update on the status of its private equity bidders as an initial six-week due diligence period comes to an end.
A judge has detailed how individuals lent as much as $1.1 million each to former financial adviser Anthony Del Vecchio, only learning when they contacted his employer that nothing had ever been invested.
Having rejected the possibility of an IPO, Mason Stevens’ CEO details why the wealth platform went down the PE route and how it intends to accelerate its growth ambitions in financial advice.