Pondering Penn's proposition

Friday, November 12th 2004, 7:37PM

Yesterday I, along with a few other journos, had the pleasure of having lunch in Wellington with part of the AXA brains trust - Andy Penn and Ralph Stewart.
It was refreshing to hear Penn talk candidly about the industry and in many ways provide a fresh response to the criticisms made of fund managers and advisers by people such as Gareth Morgan.
His view is that part of the fee paid by consumers when they buy a product such as a managed fund is for helping advisers lift their game. This chunk of money is passed back to advisers by way of commission. It's an interesting thought and quite a good one to ponder over.

Also it's interesting to hear an Australian defend the onerous regulatory regime imposed on the financial services industry across the ditch. His view is "don't blame the law writers blame the implementers" including the lawyers used by fund managers who naturally tend to be conservative.
When you think about this Australia isn't alone. New Zealand lawyers have shown that they can be very conservative when they implement new laws. The example which springs to mind is the detail which included in the first investment statements issued in New Zealand. Some of them weren't particularly simple.
One of the lasting impressions of Penn yesterday was his absolute commitment to helping raise the quality of advice given to clients.
Some good food for thought in what Penn had to say. If you have some comments feel free to post them using the box below this post.
Have a great day.
Philip

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