K: Financial and Insurance Services

Three lawsuits looming for AMP

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Original article by Ben Butler, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 24-Apr-18

AMP has declined to comment on reports that it may face multiple class action lawsuits after the misconduct of its financial planners was exposed by the banking royal commission. Slater & Gordon and Shine Lawyers have advised that they are considering class actions on behalf of AMP clients, while Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan expects to launch its own class action within weeks. Meanwhile, the inquiry has been told that many clients who received poor financial advice from AMP have yet to be informed that they have lost money.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, SLATER AND GORDON LIMITED – ASX SGH, SHINE LAWYERS, QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART AND SULLIVAN LP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, PROPERTY SAINT, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Tasplan, CARE Super and IOOF lead monthly super satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Apr-18

The Roy Morgan Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows that average customer satisfaction with Australian superannuation funds was 61.1% in the six months to March 2018. This is on par with the average satisfaction level for Industry funds. Retail funds sit below the average at 60.1%, and satisfaction with major retail funds (consisting of ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac) is 58.7%. Average satisfaction with Public Sector funds and Self-Managed Superannuation funds is 72.6% and 73% respectively. Meanwhile, Tasplan has the highest satisfaction level of all superannuation funds, at 74.6%, ahead of CARE Super (71%) and retail fund IOOF (69.9%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, TASPLAN LIMITED, CARE SUPER PTY LTD, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

RACT leads general insurance satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Apr-18

The Roy Morgan General Insurance Satisfaction report shows that 79.2% of Australians were satisfied with their general insurer in February 2018, down 0.4% from the same time in 2017. RACT has the highest level of customer satisfaction within the general insurance industry, at 93.5%; it is followed by Defence Service Homes Insurance (91.1%) and AMP (90.8%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RACT INSURANCE PTY LTD, DEFENCE SERVICE HOMES INSURANCE SCHEME, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

CBA charges dead customers for advice

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 20-Apr-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has apologised to the families of deceased customers who had continued to be charged fees for financial advice after their death. The banking royal commission has been told that four deceased customers of CBA subsidiary Count Financial had been charged fees, in one case for more than 10 years after their death. The inquiry has also been told that CBA had been made aware of a fees-for-no-service scandal at Count Financial in November 2012, but it did not inform ASIC until 2014.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Buy the dip: bullish strategist sticks to his guns

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 26 : 20-Apr-18

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 shed five per cent in the March 2018 quarter, marking its worst performance in the first three months of a calendar year since 2008. However, Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse remains upbeat about the outlook for the local bourse, arguing that the recent sell-off presents a buying opportunity for investors. He notes amongst other things that earnings-per-share growth is expected to be within the range of 5-10 per cent, while the S&P/ASX 200 is currently trading on a price-to-earnings ratio of 15 times consensus earnings per share for the next 12 months.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

CBA reputation hammered by series of scandals

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 19-Apr-18

The Commonwealth Bank is rated 57th in the Reputation Institute’s latest Australian Corporate Reputation Index, compared with 36th previously. The index was compiled in February and March, and followed a series of scandals and executive departures at the bank. However, the positions of Australia’s other three major banks were largely unchanged in the latest index. Air New Zealand has the highest ranking in the index for the second successive year, followed by Toyota and Qantas.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, REPUTATION INSTITUTE PTY LTD, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, APPLE PTY LTD, MURRAY GOULBURN CO-OPERATIVE COMPANY LIMITED, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD

CBA eyes $4b spin-off of funds manager

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 18-Apr-18

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has appointed John Mulcahy as the chairman of Colonial First State Global Asset Management ahead of its demerger and sharemarket float. Goldman Sachs values CFSGAM at between $A3.7bn and $A4.8bn, which could potentially make it the largest Australian IPO since Medibank Private in 2014. CBA opted for an IPO following a strategic review of CFSGAM, which boasts $A219bn worth of assets under management. CBA sold its life insurance business in 2017, and the latest divestiture will enable it to focus on its core banking business.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, AIA GROUP LIMITED, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, REGAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES TREASURY CORPORATION, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, ECLIPX GROUP LIMITED – ASX ECX, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, FIDELITY INVESTMENTS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ERNST AND YOUNG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

AMP admits dirty deeds and deceptions

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Apr-18

Shares in AMP fell sharply on 17 April after the banking royal commission heard further revelations of misconduct. Jack Regan, AMP’s head of financial advice, told the inquiry of multiple instance in which AMP had misled the Australian Securities & Investments Commission with regard to an investigation into a financial planning scandal. Amongst other things, the inquiry was told that AMP had falsely informed clients that they had been overcharged. Regan also said AMP’s relationship with Clayton Utz raised questions about the impartiality of the law firm’s investigation into the scandal.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, CLAYTON UTZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

RBA talks up rate rise, but not just yet

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 24 : 18-Apr-18

The minutes of the Reserve Bank’s latest board meeting show that board members expect monetary policy to be tightened rather than eased, although they have indicated that this is unlikely in the near-term given the outlook for inflation and unemployment. Meanwhile, Bill Evans of Westpac says the central bank is likely to downgrade its growth forecast for the Australian economy in 2018 from 3.25 per cent to three per cent in its next statement on monetary policy.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED

AMP admits to misleading ASIC 10 times

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Apr-18

AMP confessed to the banking royal commission on 16 April that it had misled the Australian Securities & Investments Commission on at least 10 occasions. Its deception related to a scheme that saw numerous customers charged fees for services they did not receive. With financial planning being the focus of the banking royal commission’s second round of public hearings, ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell said that in his opinion financial planners should not be able to refer to themselves as professionals, such has been their poor behaviour in recent years.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, STORM FINANCIAL LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA