Professional Planner

Geoff Lloyd (left), Neil Younger and Andrew Gregory. Photo: Jack Smith. Financial advice is positioned to avoid a “Kodak moment” and being made obsolete by AI and technology, as human-led interactions will continue to be a driving force in its proposition.

Produced in partnership with Betashares. The 2026 Budget proposal to replace the 50 per cent capital gains discount with cost-base indexation reintroduces an old structural problem: capital gains and capital losses are calculated on different cost bases. For investors holding a portfolio of direct shares, that asymmetry can result in tax being paid on a real economic gain that simply isn’t there. Pooled investment vehicles, including ETFs, could potentially mitigate the problem.

Advice firms will need a 25 per cent increase in ongoing fees sustain desirable shareholder returns, according to data and analysis from Peloton Partners. The consultancy group based the calculation on maintaining shareholder returns of 40 per cent, in line with industry research on what “high performing” advice firms are achieving.

Allan Maitland (left), David Pettit and Grant O'Riley. PictureWealth has acquired Capstone Financial Planning, turning the wealth fintech founded in 2017 into one of the largest licensee owners in the country. The combined group will have $22 billion in funds under advice (FUA) and more than 360 advisers nationally, lifted by Capstone’s $13.5 billion FUA and 220 advisers.

Produced in partnership with Barings. The private credit sector has had a pretty good decade, with the exception of the last 12 months. After a period of strong performance and record inflows, conditions are turning, although the broad themes that underpinned the rise of private credit haven’t changed.

Sarah Abood. Capital gains tax (CGT) changes proposed in this year’s budget could lead to more high-pressure sales tactics that push people into SMSFs, according to the Financial Advice Association Australia. The association wrote in a submission to the government’s proposed tax changes that while it welcomes superannuation being exempted from the proposals, it could mean property in SMSFs becomes disproportionately attractive.

Andrew Inwood. Photo: Jack Smith. Advisers have become less satisfied with the practice development capabilities of their licensees and it’s the only area they’re falling short, according to research from CoreData. Presenting annual licensee data to the Professional Planner Licensee Summit, CoreData Research global CEO Andrew Inwood said satisfaction with practice development has fallen to 48 per cent from 53 per cent last year.

From left: Shail Singh and David Berry. Photo: Jack Smith. AFCA complaints about Shield and First Guardian have reached 3429 as ASIC has spent the past few weeks catching the attention of investors who are unaware they may have been invested in the schemes. AFCA lead ombudsman for investments and advice Shail Singh revealed the figure to the Professional Planner Licensee Summit on Wednesday morning.

Something is shifting in the power dynamics of the Australian financial system, and it is happening quietly enough that the institutions on the wrong end of it may not have fully noticed yet. For most of the past two decades, power rested with capital – the asset managers and platforms that manufacture financial products. They held the infrastructure, the data and the lion’s share of the capital allocated to the wealth management sector.

John Lonsdale (left) and Margaret Cole. APRA’s performance test captured the fast inflows of Shield and First Guardian, but the prudential regulator says it didn’t have the capability to investigate any red flags in the data. APRA confirmed to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee onFriday that total assets in the combined funds grew from $25 million in 2021 to $982 million in 2025, based on data collected by APRA through trustees for the performance test.