The Moran Principle

I am a bit furious at the moment. On the 30th June 2010 I attended the Department of Treasury’s Melbourne briefing on the “Future of Financial Advice” (www.futureofadvice.treasury.gov.au). I was hoping to hear about Treasury’s view on the future of our industry/profession. I took a couple of hours out of my day on the last day of the financial year to attend because I am committed to the development of my profession. At the table in front of a group of about 100 interested people sat 3 Treasury officials and one ASIC representative. I have no issue with any of these representatives (although I must say that the ASIC rep did not open her mouth and seemed less than interested) – my problem is that the entire session was overtaken by life insurance salespeople panicked by the prospect of a ban on commissions. I use the term life insurance salespeople, rather than financial adviser/planner, on purpose as this is the only way that these people could be characterized. It was an embarra...