Fund Product, Company and Regulatory Updates as at 14 April 2020
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Product Updates
Vanguard launches new, simpler investment platform
Vanguard’s Personal Investor platform offers managed funds and exchange-traded funds, Australian shares and an integrated cash account, brokerage-free. The aim is to lower the cost of investing, with the platform charging investors 0.2 per cent of their total account balance annually, up to a maximum of $600.
BetaShares closing unlisted global equities fund
BetaShares is closing its BetaShares CPS - Global Managers Trust, an externally managed fund invested in global shares. Investors will be moved to a new fund, an international equities fund mostly run in-house. The new fund is a month old.
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Company Updates
Sargon Capital to be liquidated
The creditors of Sargon Capital have voted unanimously to liquidate the company. The liquidation process could take up to a year to complete. Taiping Trustees, Sargon Capital’s only known secured creditor for $97 million and other unsecured creditors were in favour of the administrators winding up the firm.
Chant West and Zenith go to court
Chant West Holdings filed proceedings against Zenith Investment Partners pulled back on a deal to buy its superannuation arm for $12 million. Chant West received a letter recently seeking to terminate the sales agreement due to a ‘material adverse impact’ of the market environment. Chant West disagrees.
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Regulatory Updates
Early access to super - demand high
The Australian Tax Office has reported that demand for early access to superannuation is high. Over 360,000 registrations of interest in the COVID-19 early release of superannuation relief measure have so far been received (as at April 2). The ATO notes that not every application will go ahead and withdraw super.
ASIC makes allowances for consumers and advisers
Five major Australian associations for the financial sector have joined forces to help consumers understand their options in terms of COVID-19 economic packages. CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), SMSF Association (SMSFA), the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) are all involved in making it easier for consumers to figure out their next best step. Registered Tax Agents (RTAs) can now temporarily give advice about early release of superannuation without a licence, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) blessing, and simplified advice documents are now able to be offered by advisers, in place of long, complicated statement of advice documents.
