ASIC cracks down on adviser following super failures
ASIC has accepted an enforceable undertaking from a financial adviser following an ASIC review which found the adviser had failed to consider the longer term impact of placing insurances within superannuation.
Following a review of client files, ASIC found that advice provided by Jason Churchill, a financial adviser at Churchill Consulting Services had not met the standards expected of a financial adviser and that he had failed to comply with financial services laws.
According to the enforceable undertaking, some of the areas Mr Churchill provides advice on include investment life insurance products, managed investment schemes, retirement savings account products and superannuation.
In a statement, ASIC said that in some instances Mr Churchill “failed to consider the competing priorities of adequate insurance versus affordability, including the longer term impact of placing insurances within superannuation”.
He also failed to enquire adequately into the relevant personal circumstances of some clients to whom he made recommendations, according to ASIC.
The review found Mr Churchill had in some cases failed to “provide adequate replacement product advice to the client in the statement of advice, preventing the client from making an informed decision to switch insurance cover” and “inadequately demonstrated in some cases the benefits of a stepped or level premium”.
He also limited advice in some cases to exclude issues that cannot reasonably be excluded from the scope of advice, ASIC said.
Under the EU, Mr Churchill has agreed to undergo additional training in relation to the provision of financial product advice and “must adhere to strict supervision requirements for 12 months and have each piece of advice audited by his authorising licensee before it is provided to the clients”, ASIC said.
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