Former Commonwealth FP adviser cops five-year ban

Wagga Wagga-based adviser Kimberly Holgate was an authorised representative of Commonwealth Financial Planning from January 2014 to October 2015, during which time ASIC found she had “engaged in conduct that was likely to mislead”.

Ms Holgate cut clients’ signatures from documents held on file and pasted these onto new documents, failed to act in clients’ best interests when rolling their super into new products issued by Colonial First State or when advising them to cancel existing insurance policies and apply for insurance issued by CommInsure.

Additionally, Ms Holgate failed to prioritise her clients’ best interests when advising clients to “acquire financial products which entitled her, her employer and its related entities to a financial benefit”.

ASIC said the super advice provided by Ms Holgate offered no improvement to clients’ financial position and that her insurance advice saw clients cancelling existing policies before new policies were approved, resulting in a lack of coverage and sometimes increased premiums and fees.