ASIC report questions adviser integrity  

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s stakeholder survey for 2013 was released today off the back of a survey of more than 1468 industry and non-industry stakeholders, conducted by Susan Bell Research on ASIC’s behalf between February and June 2013.

Asked to what extent various “gatekeepers in the system have integrity”, less than one quarter (23 per cent) responded in the affirmative for “financial advisers”, while "fund managers" also fared badly with 26 per cent responding positively.

An even lower proportion (20 per cent) of respondents indicated they believe the broader financial services industry manages conflicts of interest effectively, the report states.

Integrity was defined as a mixture of “having high standards, managing vested interests, not hiding anything and being honest”.

More to come.