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10 October 2026
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The Design and Distribution Obligations (DDO) come into effect in two weeks. They will change the way banks promote products, force some small funds to close to new members and push issues into the listed space.
The Australian Taxation Office has issued a directive about the top five errors in SMSF annual returns. Although many leave these to an administrator, it's worth knowing what's happening behind the scenes.
The best way to preserve your SMSF’s favoured status is to make sure the fund’s annual return reaches the ATO on time. There are new rules this year that every SMSF trustee should know.
APRA is pushing for executive remuneration to move to non-financial metrics, which will lead to poor outcomes for all stakeholders. Investors should resist and vote against such measures at AGMs.
Thanks to the Royal Commission, everybody is aware of the problems with vertical integration and in-house conflicts for financial advisers. What should advisers and their clients look for?
SMSFs are useful retirement vehicles, but there are rules to follow which can easily be overlooked in haste. Run your eyes over the next five rules in this continuing list.
Recent legal cases involving Westpac and BT put to rest any view that 'caveat emptor' (buyer beware) applies to 'no' and 'general' advice service models, even though those models do not attract a best interests duty.
It is better for management and regulatory bodies to work together to preserve the innovative engines of Facebook and Google, not impose painful government intervention.
Labor is proposing to cap at $3,000 the amount that can be claimed as a tax deduction for managing tax affairs. There are many circumstances where taxpayers need to spend more than this.
Australia's major banks face many challenges but they are strong and remarkably adaptive and resilient. They have also finally accepted they are too big to behave badly.
A recent case highlights the importance of SMSF trustees exercising discretion to pay death benefits in good faith, with real and genuine consideration and in accordance with the purpose of the conferred power.
An inducement offer by a super fund is currently active, and it is creating confusion about what marketing is permissible, given that previously, regulators held such to be in violation of the sole purpose test.
Conventional wisdom encourages retirees to preserve superannuation. But if those likely to qualify for the Age Pension later in life spend a little more today, it may deliver higher lifetime income and a more stable retirement.
A high-profile dividend cut and a prominent fund manager’s apology have reignited a long-running debate. If investors can access similar exposures more cheaply and efficiently elsewhere, what exactly is keeping LICs alive?
The fight over testamentary trusts looked settled. Then the draft legislation arrived. Hidden in a technical detail is a question that could force many families to rethink wills they thought were already future-proof.
For generations, Australian investors have backed banks, miners and dividends. But has that loyalty come at a cost? A look at the numbers raises an uncomfortable question about where future returns will come from.
Investors have long accepted one portfolio rule without much question. A major tax shift could change that calculation entirely, forcing difficult trade-offs between risk, discipline and an overlooked cost lurking beneath.
The value of a testamentary trust is not determined by wealth alone. Depending on circumstances, it can reduce the tax burden on inherited income, create efficiencies and help build intergenerational wealth.