This week, Cuffelinks publishes its Special 250th Edition ebook with over 30 market experts sharing a mistake which made them better investors. From the start in 2013, Cuffelinks has committed to independent financial journalism, bringing insights from hundreds of finance professionals to our community of over 37,000 readers.
It's an important time to learn these lessons, as the 88-year-old founder of Vanguard, Jack Bogle, recently said in a CNBC interview:
"I have never seen a market this volatile to this extent in my career. Now that's only 66 years, so I shouldn't make too much of it."
Cuffelinks Special 250th Edition free ebook is linked here.
The Royal Commission steamrolls on
After another shocking week that revealed the worst of the financial advice industry, the Royal Commission has a stark issue in its headlights: how should advice and product be separated to ensure advisers act in the best interests of their clients? Many quality advisers who operate fee-for-service businesses feel all financial advice has been been tarnished by the revelations of the last two weeks.
Faced with enough material to fill a book, we have broken down a few issues: how the Commission set the tone to expose wrongful advice; what is grandfathering and why is it under threat; and the likelihood of regulations relating to percentage-based fees. We have extracted transcripts of witness statements so readers can make their own judgements.
We also share the feedback from readers received last week, and as background information, we reprise an article written by Harry Chemay in 2014 which explains how FOFA works. An independent adviser, John Leske, offers his views on the current regulations and how financial advice should be restructured.
Tim Fuller provides a short summary of the Commission's forensic dissection of the Henderson Maxwell business (recently acquired by AZ New Generation Advisory). This independent business directed 84% of its clients into its own managed account. It demonstrates that the advice issues are not confined to the big banks and AMP, with some smaller independents having their own versions of vertical integration, or as they prefer to call it, 'leveraging their eco-system'.
Thanks to subscribers, authors and sponsors for helping Cuffelinks to reach 250 editions.
Graham Hand, Managing Editor
Edition 250 | 27 Apr 2018 | Editorial | Newsletter