News Round Up

Time running out, AMP buys PWC, Pay before you go popular, Securities Commission joins top table.

Monday, June 17th 2002, 1:52AM

The organisers of this year's Financial Planners and Insurance Advisers Association conference are preparing to close off registrations at the 650 mark.

Organisers say they are close to hitting that mark already.

To avoid missing out on a place they are urging people wanting to attend the event in Palmerston North to register immediately.

Also the registration prices goes up after June 17 (Monday).

You can register online here, or download a registration form (which can be faxed back to organisers) here.

AMP buys PWC
Financial services giant AMP is buying the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) financial planning division in Australia for an undisclosed amount.

The sale has no impact on PWC in New Zealand.

"It has nothing to do with New Zealand at all and will not have anything to do with New Zealand," says Brent Proctor who runs PWC's local financial planning business. "They are two different businesses."

PWC in Australia has 23 planners and more than A$1 billion in funds under advice.

Pay before you go popular
Public Trust’s pre-paid estate administration service is proving highly successful, with sales far exceeding expectations.

Public Trust chief executive Tim Sole says that the business is on target to sell 500 pre-paid estate administration packages by June 30.

By pre-paying, people know that they have taken care of their estate administration and their family will not be left with a burden.

Under the deal people pay $1575 which covers the costs of administering an estate with assets of up to $100,000. The value of an estate is worked out by capping the value of any one asset to $50,000. Additional charges are made if the estate has assets of more than $100,000.

The PTO is the first trustee company in the world to offer a pre-paid estate administration service. It manages about 6,000 estates each year.

Securities Commission at the top table
New Zealand was one of nine countries elected to the governing body of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) at its recent world conference.

The committee is dealing with major matters arising from the September 11 terrorist attacks and the need for increased international co-operation and information sharing in the fight against international terrorism. It is also dealing with the implications of the Enron collapse and issues relating to the independence of analyst reports arising from the Merrill Lynch decision in the United States. Accounting and auditing standards, and the demutualisation of stock exchanges are also on the committee’s agenda.

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