While the White House’s economic nostrums are rattling the markets, the long-term outlook for commercial and investment relations between the two countries is positive, with a recent summit in the US further cementing ties.
The employer-employee split worked well when not-for-profit funds were in their infancy. Today, in an era of member choice and the growing demands of retiree members, it’s a model that fails to cut the mustard.
All Black great joins Centric’s super push
(pictured: Andrew Mehrtens)
Centric Wealth, the financial planning and individually managed account provider, has recruited another rugby international, former All Black Andrew Mehrtens, to market its platform and advisory services to super funds. Mehrtens joins an old rugby foe, Phil Kearns, the Centric CEO and a former Wallaby captain.
Mehrtens, a history major who speaks French and Italian, recently completed a coaching stint in France when approached by Kearns about the Centric role. He is in the process of relocating his family from Christchurch to Sydney.
Centric Wealth has about 34 salaried financial planners, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle. It has more than 200 shareholders but the largest is the CHAMP private equity group. Kearns joined the firm at the end of 2011 from fund manager Investec.
The super fund offering includes the proprietorial IMA system, model portfolios and high-end advice.
Super funds are looking to provide their high-balance members with SMSF-like functionality, under the fund’s trusteeship, in order to stem the losses to the SMSF market, which appear to be accelerating. According to Tax Office data, about $16 billion was transferred from both not-for-profit and commercial funds into SMSFs last year.
An issue for super fund trustees, however, is how much rope they allow their members without abdicating their fiduciary responsibilities.
