Conflicted advice loophole could sink Frydenberg (AFR 18/01/20)
Chris Joye in his column has represented our view well quoting Will Hamilton, “we are paid by our clients through an advice fee, for the work that we do for them. The stamping or selling fee reverses this back on to the advisor pushing product on behalf of a fund manager as they are being paid this selling fee by the fund manager. In this way, the structure is fundamentally flawed”.
We are not a lone voice by any means on this view and other great firms have been very outspoken and leading on this issue.
As an industry, the financial advice sector is confronted by change. The industry is very much in two camps on LICs and those that accept a stamping or selling fee from fund managers, against those that charge clients simply an advice fee for conflict free advice.