Firstly, to the readers and my fellow advice practitioners I’d like to preface by saying there are many wonderful and ethical people out there, not just in our industry, who go out of their way each day to help others, some richer, some poorer and some who don’t know the answers. I strongly believe our industry’s evolution is about to go through its own renaissance.
As many would know, I have been an invisible hand helping to guide change over time, a lot like Adam Smith might have done I guess, but we’ve had great public leaders like Bernie Ripoll who saw the right vision to allow us all some final respect.
In short, whomever inside the hallowed halls of the last bastion of underfunded A–Police in our industry released that legal view before getting a second opinion wins the job for next deputy director of their cash flow brotherhood in Mac Street Parramatta I say.
Two fatal flaws with the current debate over ASIC’s opinion are:
- ASIC and others are fighting over a word “independent” that contains several other linked and undefined terms as per Section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001; and
- Having said that, the term “gift” is only defined in the Acts Interpretation Act (NSW) that hasn’t been amended since I left a normal school at age 12 to be bullied at another full of snobs that ended my love of swimming and a sports career.
The entire argument thus far can be short circuited by any plausible argument of the above two points. But I am not wishing to remain on the plane with those in a cabin who’d rather have cheap arguments about trivial flashes of light within our wider fight.
The shortcomings of watching flashing lights
Many who’ve seen my LinkedIn post within the last 10 days would now know this analogy, of Eastern Airlines Flight 401, which crash landed in 1972 in the Florida Everglades killing almost all on board. The problem wasn’t a major one, so minor in fact that it could have been left unchecked. A 20 cent warning light had short circuited as the crew made preparations for landing, connected only to the landing gear that had failed to fully extend into a [full] locked position. Landings of this nature are common and trained for.
In its day it was the second largest loss of human life from a commercial airline disaster. I just don’t want to see us have our own little tragedy over something so simply inconsequential.
The problem I have with our “flight approach”
I have been critical of the media recently for beating up on us some more. It hurts doesn’t it? I know.
I had a bit of a moral dilemma even writing this editorial as I am adding fuel to the fire, but my main point is hopefully not falling on deaf ears. Don’t let this minor topic of Section 923(A) overshadow all the good we do for clients (i.e.: adding to their overall quality of life through better financial choice) and society as a whole.
If you want to fail, practice something wrong constantly, repeat it until you know it back to front and you will be almost guaranteed to fail 100 per cent of the time. The pilots (advisers) of that ill-fated flight knew everything there was to know about their cockpit (practices), where the plane (industry) was heading, how to land it (change it) safely, as they’d trained repeated processes for ‘major panic events’ correctly time and time again.
But they’d never trained for contingencies like something so simple and it became their undoing from the outset.
There is no point me wasting more key strokes providing an expanded legal or view, that was done last week via “the Donald’s” favourite option – yes there is a reason it was called ‘Twatter’ by some when it hit the cyber streets!
Notwithstanding I am not a lawyer or ruler over other’s thoughts like a few in this country seem to be.
I hope you enjoyed my missive with a sprinkle of “nuance!”
All the best for your careers and business’s ahead… and have a little faith like little “Annie” because the sun will come out tomorrow, I just know it will.
Adam Kennedy is managing director of Ethical Financial Advice.
Still need an interupter. interpreater interpreter. As it’s a slow day, For those of you who don’t watch Airplane Investigation on TV, (and still have the confidence to fly Tiger Airways) here I go…whilst coming into land, a light started flashing on the dashboard/cockpit of the airplane and the pilots got so distracted by the little light flashing consistently that they forgot to lower the landing gear, or something similar, and crashed the plane killing everyone. It was latter shown that there was nothing wrong just the 20 cent bulb itself was faulty. The author feels that ASIC’s current stance over the use of the word “independent” is a similar distraction.For these reasons and the unreadable babble of a story he’s an idiot, and yet just one more external person with no skin in the game trying to offer his two cents.
Who do you think you are is what the first opponent said to Bruce Lee, so I guess that might assist…
For the young rubber people who don’t shave yet, A-Police = ASIC and Mac St Parramatta is a town where the one of my ex employers keeps 7 years of your undeclared income and tax receipts ok!
As for the analogy on Flight 401, so you all (bar one) did not get it – also so sad you didn’t make Queenstown in 2005 as we had great line up (if you like Chinese ballet dancers (I have his signed book), Mao is not a white dressing for salads and the Founder of ‘Contiki Tours’ was great, so was winery tour with Michael Hill (yes the one who thinks “Diamonds are Forever”…
PS: Perhaps try not taking yourselves so seriously and you’ll ling a little longer 🙂
All the best.
AJSK
An incoherent roller coaster from start to finish.
All the lights are on but no one is at home
Incoherent.
great article, well said adam.
What on Earth was all that about?? I’ve been in the advice business for 35 years and I’ve never heard of you, nor seen your Linkedin posts, nor read any of your articles… Never assume your “fame” has preceded you. If you have something to communicate make your point as if writing to strangers (you are) and make it clearly, rather than with cryptic self-references.