News Round Up

Tougher rules for Australian advisers, Trust nearly full, Frank Russell a winner, WestpacTrust cleared.

Sunday, August 26th 2001, 10:31PM

A bill passed in the Australian Parliament late last week will put new pressures on advisers to disclose commissions.

The Financial Services Reform Bill (FSRB) creates a uniform licensing and disclosure regime for providing financial advice and products in Australia.

It also bolsters protection measures for consumers and the powers of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Under the bill, which is expected to come into affect on October 1, advisers have to reveal any financial interests they have in a product they promote.

Also consumers will get standardised information so they can compare products.

Property trust nearly full

Colonial First State Property Trust has reported a net profit of $3.5 million for the three months ending June 30.

General manager Lloyd Cundy says trust's portfolio of buildings are nearly 100% tenanted and producing strong cash flows.

He says the current low interest rate environment is encouraging for property investment.

The trust will pay its first interim distribution, of 2.64 cents per unit, next month.

Frank Russell a winner
Frank Russell has been named Europe's multi-manager of the year by UK-based Global Pensions magazine.

The magazine says "Russell can boast strong performance across most asset classes and has continued to refine manager line-up in 28 European funds."

Closer to home the JB Were Emerging Leaders Trust, which is about to be closed to new investment, has been named the top emerging companies fund in Australia by Personal Investor magazine.

This is the second year running that the fund has won this category.

WestpacTrust wins complaint
One TV2 viewer has claimed one of WestpacTrust's ads about how to manage money is anti-semetic.

The TV advertisement for WestpacTrust's Encore account showed a whole bunch of scenes of different people dealing with their money and ended with an elderly man counting all his coins in separate piles, only to have them collapse.

Playing in the background of the ad was the song "If I was a Rich Man" from the popular musical Fiddler On the Roof.

The complainant, R Bodle from the Jerusalem Centre, alleged the ad was in "poor taste", was "extremely offensive to the Jewish minority as it depicted Jewish people as being "money hungry".

He wanted this "very offensive advertisement" removed from our television screens.

However, he was unsuccessful in his complaint. In the end the board agreed with the arguments from WestpacTrust and its advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi that the advertisement did not breach advertising codes.

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