Money Spinners: How Australians were fed lies, sold spin and charged money for nothing by banks and financial advisers

Description

Advice for sale. Is the financial advice industry riddled with scandals because there are just a few bad apples, or is there an inherent conflict in the profession? Financial advice in Australia started with insurance brokers going door to door dispensing advice, and that slowly edged its way into financial advice. Then compulsory superannuation set the industry off and racing. There have been scandals, collapses, mergers, soft approaches to regulations and a history of skewed priorities. The drive for competition saw a lack of self-regulation that led, ultimately, to the banking royal commission and an opportunity to expose the worst operators and the bad advice being dispensed. Incompetence, conflicts of interest and greed were all exposed. Where to from here? ASIC and APRA have become emboldened, but where will ordinary Australians be going to receive the best direction for a secure financial future? Annelise Nielsen has watched and studied the implosion of the financial services sector and here, in clear language, she wades through the weasel words to provide some clarity.

Annelise Nielsen is a political reporter and host at Sky News Australia. As a journalist, she has a wide range of experience covering stories across Australia, Asia and the Middle East. With a bachelor's degree in law and a year working in a professional services firm, her work is often driven and informed by a strong interest in justice, the Australian legal system and politics.