TALKBACK -- Industry comment on www.theadviser.com.au

Everyone has an opinion, and some people feel compelled to speak out. Here are just a few comments prompted by daily news broken on www.theadviser.com.au over the last month.

ON COMMISSIONS TOO LOW: BROKERS...

Of course the banks are whining: that's what they do. They use the excuse that we need to help ease the burden of the so called Australian financial crisis and then they muddy the waters with confusing commission structures all the while they are increasing interest rates outside the RBA's consideration and boasting huge profits. We are the only industry in the country to take a wage cut since World War II but of course the banks won't help ease my burden or restore the meager income they took from us now that the crisis doesn't seem so bad. And has anyone noticed that the banks actually made more profit during the crisis. Open your eyes people and say welcome to capitalism at its best. Keith Fletcher

Didn't the banks also post record profits in the midst of the GFC? The broking industry is not sustainable with the current level of commission, especially given the claw back policies, and the fact that in some cases you have to wait 12 months before even receiving any trailing income. New brokers simply cannot survive and if commissions are not increased the entire industry will suffer over the long term. Elle McKenzie

This is just the beginning. If a system worked well for decades, how can anyone (without an agenda for change simply because ‘change is good') believe that making drastic changes - without ever having worked in an industry - will create a better system. Brokers are not all rich. Why is this? The system was fair and worked for everyone. The main bodies set up to look after the wellbeing of their members, namely brokers and financial advisers, have let them down by not speaking up sooner. They still pay lip service and will pay the price along with their members - and incidentally the public. Anonymous

ON PROPERTY PRICE GROWTH TO FALL...

I can't see property prices falling at a faster rate as they have in fact grown in the past 12 months. In fact, our records have shown that in the longer term, the expensive investments are the ones that return the greatest profits. In so far as prices falling, with real interest rates below 7 per cent, low unemployment, a very volatile share market, and overseas buyers still sniffing, I doubt any sector of our market will fall. The falling that had to occur with the government stimulus has pretty well now finished. Sure in some pockets it has had an effect, but overall it is negligible. Frank Taddeo

ON VIRGIN, CITIBANK TO CHALLENGE MAJORS...

This sounds good but what are they going to come up with? It is easy to state the obvious that the majors have a stronghold on the market and that there is room for competition (this is Australia for goodness sake) but we need products and services that are defined and executable so business can be routed to Citibank and Virgin from the majors. As a broker with much less choice to offer customers because of the major's new volume requirements, I welcome offering competitive products with efficient processing services to my customers. Bring it on! Greg Uehling