pricing advice - opportunity or catastrophe?

This is an article by Sue Viskovic, who is the Managing Director of Elixir Consulting, and author of the Adviser Pricing Models Research Report. As experts in the field of practice development, Elixir Consulting has been engaged by Præmium to provide regular articles that may be of interest and use to our clients with issues that affect their businesses. From time to time, Praemium clients will be provided special offers and opportunities from Elixir Consulting.

Whilst the industry has debated the virtues of fees and commissions for decades, there has never before been so much focus on the issue from outside forces. Even as there are many still continuing to passionately defend the need for commissions, it is rapidly becoming apparent that change is inevitable.

There are not one but three separate Government enquiries currently underway which will visit adviser commissions in some form.

The parliamentary joint committee enquiry into financial products and services (brought about by the collapse of Opes Prime, MFS, Westpoint, Storm Financial etc);
The Cooper review of the superannuation system; and
The parliamentary enquiry into agribusiness MIS (brought about by the collapse of Timbercorp and Great Southern)

We dearly hope that the Henry Tax Review also visits the issue, and recommends that advice fees become tax deductible.

To continue with this article, please click here.

don't be dragged into change - embrace it early!

This is an article by Warren Gibson, who is a Director of Præmium Australia Pty Ltd.

Præmium is fine tuning its' marketing and sales strategy to more closely align it with the business requirements of accountants and financial planners.

Market conditions brought on by the Global Financial Crisis saw sales fall over a few months from December 2008. Consequently, many financial advisers reported their inaction or lack of decisiveness were mainly due to being bogged down with client issues and deciding how to structure their business post the market fall so as to ride the upswing and reposition themselves for the next inevitable cyclical downturn.

Another consideration for many was maintaining the value of their practice for eventual succession or potential aggregation. Of course, the continued growth in the SMSF sector is an attractive proposition but one that brings with it a whole world of complexity.

Præmium's Sales Director, Warren Gibson, reports that the sales pipeline is filling once more for technology providers as advisers come to grips with what they need to do and begin the search for business tools that will help them get there. It's a very competitive field.

"Our role is not just about sales and adding portfolios to our V-Wrap portfolio service. It is about building long term relationships and adding value to advisory firms by more closely aligning our service to their business requirements. We are now beyond selling our service to just any practice. We want commitment from our clients in return. By that I mean they must ensure they can resource changes in their business, get staff buy-in, be prepared for the change-over and the extra work that change brings in the early stages. Those that do report increased revenue, happier clients, contented staff and that feeling of being in control of their business, that money just can't buy".

To continue with this article, please click here.

new upload templates

A number of data upload templates have been updated recently and available for download from our website, www.praemium.com.au , under the Products & Services section, Downloads page. They are as follows:

Service Asset Price Upload template - the change affects the macro which creates the ‘xml' file. So while the new template looks identical to the previous version, the old template will no longer work.
Transaction Upload template - once again, the change affects the macro which creates the ‘xml' file. So while the new template looks identical to the previous version, the old template will no longer work.
Income Upload template - the changes relate to existing field names which have been updated to better reflect those contained in V-Wrap. Please use the new template as the old template will no longer work.

System messages have been posted and sent to Level 6 users and above. For more information, please contact the Client Service team via email at mail@praemium.com.au .

webinar - corporate actions

Join Scott Jackson, Præmium's Relationship Development Manager, as he provides group online training (webinar) in respect to corporate actions and how not to be scared of those red buttons.

Date: Thursday, 10 September 2009 Time: 11 - 11.45 am

There is no charge to attend our webinar service, however, you must register. To register for this session, click here.

heffron special offer

The latest edition of Heffron Super News provides in depth commentary on TR 2009/D3 - a draft tax ruling covering contributions. This ruling will become one of the key SMSF reference points as it deals with a number of tricky issues. For example, when shares are transferred in specie and when is the contribution deemed to have occurred?

Praemium clients are eligible for a free subscription to Heffron Super News. Please send your details to heffron@heffron.com.au or go to http://www.heffron.com.au/ to register your interest

recent conferences

As a sponsor for both events, thank you to those who visited our stand during the recent SPAA State Technical Conference and SMSF Strategy Day (with Grant Abbott).

It's always nice to catch up with existing clients to hear their feedback and any questions they may have.

other upcoming events

A number of seminars and workshops will take place in the next couple of months that may be of interest to you.

Heffron's advanced SMSF training

Heffron's advanced SMSF training sessions are designed to meet the needs of professionals who require a more advanced knowledge of self managed superannuation funds. This year's dates are as follows:

Brisbane - Wednesday 2 September
Sydney - Wednesday 9 September
Newcastle - Friday 11 September
Launceston - Tuesday 15 September (Half-day)
Melbourne - Wednesday 16 September (Half-day)
Perth - Thursday 17 September (Half-day)

Praemium clients will be eligible to a discounted registration fee. To register your place in QLD and NSW, please click here . For TAS, VIC and WA, please click here. Alternatively, please send your enquiries to heffron@heffron.com.au .

2009 Accountants' Technology Showcase Australia (ATSA)

Taking place on 19 & 20 October 2009 in Sydney, the theme for this year Accountants' Technology Showcase Australia (ATSA) conference is Increase Practice Profitability Through New Processes and Technology.

As a proud sponsor of this event, we are pleased to offer Præmium clients a 15% discount to the registration fee. Please include the promotional code PRA18 on the registration/ application form.

in the press & recent announcements

In case you missed the following recent announcements from Præmium or articles in the press, you can read them by clicking on the links below:

You can view other ASX Announcements or articles in relation to Praemium at any time by visiting our ASX Announcements or In the Press section of the website.

Disclaimer: The information in this publication is of a general nature. While Præmium Limited and its related bodies (‘Præmium') endeavour to provide accurate and timely information Præmium do not guarantee that the information in this publication is accurate at the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. Views expressed by contributors and/or services described which are provided by third parties are not necessarily endorsed by Præmium. No responsibility is accepted by Præmium for the accuracy of that information, and Præmium in no way takes any responsibility whatsoever for material contained on external websites referred to in this publication.

Issue 21 31 August 2009