Technical Basis – Nov 2009

Matthew Esler, General Manager of Strategy & Technical Services
Bill Faraj, Technical Services Manager
Reda Daher, Technical Analyst
Justin Labruna, Technical Analyst

Welcome to Technical Basis, Midwinter’s financial planning strategy and technical newsletter provided to subscribers of Midwinter’s financial advice software.

Midwinter’s 2nd Annual High Value Low Touch Advice National Roadshow was a roaring success with Matthew Esler and Peter Burns, Midwinter’s National Head of Distribution, presenting 21 sessions in 7 cities across Australia attended by over 1500 advisers and authorised representatives representing nearly 40 dealer groups and 10 major platform providers.

Congratulations to Ashley Montesin from W & D Financial Services, a member of Count Financial Group, who was the lucky winner of the new Compaq laptop with pre-installed Reasonable Basis software in the Midwinter Roadshow referral competition!

If you attended the Roadshow you are eligible for a free trial of Reasonable Basis to end of November. To download your free trial click here.

On the technical front, Corporations Legislation Amendment (Financial Services Modernisation) Bill 2009 passed the Senate on 26th October 2009. This Bill proposes measures including treating Margin Lending as a financial product under Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act – meaning financial advisers will have to provide a reasonable basis for margin lending advice. Additionally, the Bill introduces a new responsible lending requirement where margin lenders will need to assess the suitability of a proposed loan for a client and the regulation of margin call notification, especially where the loan has been arranged through a financial planner.

Midwinter pre-empted this Bill becoming law with the release of Gearing Manager in March 2009. Gearing Manager not only provides confidence for those advisers looking to get their clients back into Margin Lending but the SOA outputs have been designed to ensure advisers provide a reasonable basis for gearing recommendations. For more information on Midwinter’s Gearing Manager – click here. To download a trial of Gearing Manager – click here.

Tax News contains both general information from the ATO as well as ATO Interpretative Decisions and Tax Rulings over the past month.

The Law reform section includes What’s Law & What’s Pending – two very handy summary documents keeping you abreast of the latest legislation and regulatory developments affecting all forms of financial planning and advice.

If you would like Midwinter’s Technical team to provide clarity on a particular subject please email your requests directly to myself at mesler@midwinter.com.au.

To arrange a free trial of Midwinter’s Reasonable Basis please click here and contact our friendly staff on 1300 882 938 for your access codes.

Terminal Server version now available

For further information contact Midwinter’s help desk on 1300 882 938.