MAGAZINE OF CHOICE FOR AUSTRALIA’S WEALTH INDUSTRY
www.moneymanagement.com.au
Vol. 34 No 4 | March 26, 2020
MANAGED ACCOUNTS
Suitable for all?
24
ESG
30
Different methods of ESG criteria
AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES
Accessing Chinese equities
FASEA cancels face-toface April exam sittings BY JASSMYN GOH
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Keep calm and carry on It is a worrying time at the moment as investors watch their investments and superannuation plummet through the floor from the chaos caused by COVID-19, leaving thoughts of retirement firmly on the backburner. As well as fears over health and quarantine, the stockmarket has been significantly hit with double-digit falls reported all around the world and there is a strong chance that this could lead to a recession, Australia’s first since 1990. To sort the facts from the rumours, Money Management spoke to multiple Australian equity fund managers on which stocks were worst-affected and which could potentially be a winner. The situation is rapidly developing but, at the time of writing, the biggest hit was seen to be to the travel industry with stocks such as Webjet, Qantas and Flight Centre reporting falls of more than 40%. This is likely to worsen if plans go ahead to lock down borders and restrict travel. However, there is the option to view this as an opportunity to pick up blue-chip stocks which are attractively priced and should prove strong over the next five to 10 years. Other managers advised investors to stay strong in the face of crisis and avoid making panicked decisions which could see them crystallise losses in their portfolios.
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ASIA PACIFIC
THE Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) has cancelled its face-to-face April exam sittings and will offer advisers a remote online option for the exam due to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement came five days after the authority assured advisers that the April exam would proceed in all locations. FASEA said it recognised the “challenges presented by the virus on the delivery of face-toface exams” and that the exam provider, the Australia Council for Education Research (ACER), would make the April exam available to registered candidates as a remote online option or they could defer the exam
until a later sitting. “This measure is being taken in light of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and in the best interest of all people involved with the exam,” FASEA said. FASEA noted it was conscious of the need to continue to offer exams through the remainder of 2020 to enable existing advisers to meet the legislated timeframe. “ACER will directly advise candidates registered for the April exam of details regarding registration and sittings, including details of the remote online option available for registered candidates,” FASEA said. “ACER requests candidates to ensure their email addresses are up to date in the registration system.”
FASEA embraced remote meeting ahead of exam decision BY MIKE TAYLOR
PRIOR to announcing the cancellation of the face-to-face adviser exam sittings, the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) opted for a remote meeting of its so-called “Contributors Forum” involving the major banks. Money Management had been told that FASEA had decided to hold the upcoming 26 March meeting utilising web meeting application ZOOM. It is understood that the ‘Contributors Forum’ involves around 16 people. A number of the banks have imposed policies which discourage personnel from attending face-to-face meetings.
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