A personal note from Drew Browne, Founder of Sapience Financial.
Well, this is embarrassing
Let's talk about the elephant in the room — the soon to be released Banking Royal Commission report.
Frankly, I'm embarrassed by much of the reported behaviours of big financial services.
The Banking Royal Commission will shortly release its final report after a year-long inquiry into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry.
Like watching ugly parents shouting obscenities at the referee during a children's sports match, much of the behaviour of the Banks, Super Funds and Wealth Management industry has been nothing less than disgraceful.
- Big organisations and their staff have at best, not stood up for the customer first and at worst, knowingly aided and covered up predatory and bullying behaviour.
We believe there should be no room for bad businesses in financial advice; regardless of how big they may be.
To date, the Commission of Inquiry has found;
- At least a dozen super funds — the majority bank-owned — may have committed misconduct or breached laws
- AMP admitted it lied to the regulator 20 times about the scale of the problem
- CBA was shown to have charged fees to thousands of customers who had died
- NAB was quizzed on the rampant false witnessing of documents on behalf of 2520 NAB financial planning clients
- CommInsure's refusal to payout breast cancer claims unless there was a mastectomy
- TAL's hiring of a private eye to spy on an ex-nurse's swimming pool visits
- AMP's practice of charging life insurance premiums to dead customers
- REST's decision to hand back a paraplegic's insurance payout to a global insurer, and
- a host of other improper behaviours have emerged.
Such is the scale of misconduct uncovered, in preparation for the release of the Royal Commission Report, the big four banks have already allocated $2.5 billion for compensation and wealth manager AMP could have to pay $1.5 billion and IOOF $780 million over the next four years.
How does this affect Sapience and its customers?
It doesn’t.
Sapience is all about helping our customers protect and provide for their families and their businesses too. We're transparent about our income and our intentions and think that's the right way to do business.
- Our clients span the range of Small Business Owners & Partnerships through to traditionally established mums-and-dads and to young families.
- Sapience specialises in usable financial advice about risk protection strategies, consolidating debts and home mortgages, and for our existing clients, we provide wealth management advice and can help them with their estate planning too.
- Sapience small business clients also use us for their Business Risk Protection needs and we're considered one of the few advisers specialising in hard-to-insure occupations and health conditions.
We enjoy and value the long-term relationships we have with our clients, friends and supporters and we just aren’t entangled in the people, business practices and morally corrupt behaviours we have all watched with disgust reported in the media.
What’s the pattern we're seeing?
If one thing has become clear, from following the Royal Commission evidence about little people being treated badly by big financial businesses, it’s this;
- now is not the time to be without your own financial adviser who can be a powerful and capable advocate in your corner looking out for you and your family and your small business needs.
Let's chat as you may need
I just wanted to take this very unusual step of addressing the elephant in the room directly with all of our clients, friends, and supporters and to remind you if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch.
Drew Browne
Founder & Senior Advisor
Sapience Financial
