FPA’s plan receives Hume nod if it delivers a profession If the Financial Planning Association can prove its proposals for individual adviser registration will hasten the development of a profession and the separation of advice from product, then it seems likely to meet little resistance from the Federal Government. For more.

MLC Life appoints CEO after five-month search MLC Life Insurance has appointed Rodney Cook as chief executive and managing director after an extensive search following the departure of David Hackett in January. For more.

Is Facebook ESG? Several ESG funds invest in Facebook, but given the actions the company has taken, can investors feel comfortable with their money being invested in it despite the social media company fulfilling technical ESG requirements? For more.

BlackRock still yet to launch ESG funds for Australia The firm plans to expand its ESG offerings but is still weighing up options for the Australian market. For more.

Invest along the yield curve: UBS There are reasons to be optimistic as dysfunction in the market in March was short lived and there has been good performance from investment grade credit and emerging market bonds, according to UBS. For more.

Investors should redefine defensives The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has forced investors to re-evaluate what businesses are deemed safe and defensive as ‘safety trades’ are not immune from market volatility. For more.

Lennox buys stake in HUB24 Lennox Capital Managers has initiated a position in platform HUB24, taking advantage of the company’s share price fall. For more.

Pockets of office assets still valuable Quality office assets with secure income streams might still be attractive for investors even though the market will continue to see some headwinds due to COVID-19, according to Cromwell Property Group. For more.

Consumer demand and behaviour biggest threats to recovery Shrinking consumer demand and changing consumer behaviour are the biggest threats to business recovery, according to a survey. For more.

Early release or a kick-start? So, what does the cost of a motorcycle trail bike have in common with the average drawdown of superannuation early release? For more.

One way ticket for Poms Outsider was relieved but not particularly surprised to read that over half of British expats would not move back to their UK motherland – and not just because one of his best and most modest journalists is a Pom. For more.

Who wants membership of a licensee club? Outsider knows that the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) seek to represent financial planners and he knows that the Financial Services Council (FSC) seeks to represent insurers and other product providers so who is representing the licensees? For more.