ASIC has confirmed that the ban placed on Keith McDermott – an authorised representative of The FinancialLink Group – also prohibits him from managing, supervising or auditing the provision of financial services, as well as training about financial services and products.
Mr McDermott was found to have recommended some of his clients invest in high-risk fund, the Investport Income Opportunity Fund, which ASIC says “the high-risk nature of the investment did not match those clients’ risk profiles”.
Despite this, Mr McDermott recommended that some clients invest a high percentage of their retirement savings in the fund.
The corporate regulator deemed that Mr McDermoitt failed to provide appropriate advice that was in the best interests of his clients and that he failed to prioritise clients’ interests ahead of his own and the licensee.
He also did not disclose the charges, lost benefits or the risk of switching funds to the Investport Income Opportunity Fund to clients.
Mr McDermott’s ban took effect from 3 August 2021.
I left the industry in 2020 and the weight off my shoulders has been enormous. I occasionally read the trade press to remind myself why I left and why I will never return. This 3 year banning is a good reminder. If a court can determine wrongdoing, restitution to the client should be enough. No other profession has the lifetime or multiple year banning’s that Advisers have over errors in paperwork.
No error in paperwork here. Good ban.
AGAIN! the fund manger causes the product to fail and the little guy gets it – Financial Services – designed and legislated to favor the big banks and fund mangers. Lets not worry that the directors of this fund lied and cheated and stole from the fund. This is no fair!
It’s why being a financial planner is a stupid decision, I am one and I regret deciding to do it every single morning. It’s also why I won’t be one shortly.
The Fund Manager and Investment Committee were the owners of the AFSL who to date have gotten off with nothing but a mild reprimand and still run the AFSL – how does that work, Adviser Banned and AFSL owners who built and pushed it out to the adviser network get off.