10 January 2020
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Embattled Australian wealth manager IOOF has told the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics it has identified 67 advisers it regards as being "in the higher-risk category" and are the likely culprits for the firm's A$223m client remediation bill.
An IOOF spokesperson told the Financial Review that the conduct of the 67 advisers has been "reported to ASIC as a potential breach for the collective" and said IOOF will take the "necessary course of action" against individuals pending the findings of an independent review.
The analysis only examined the 788 advisers in IOOF's network before the onboarding of ANZ's financial advice businesses, meaning the "higher risk" cohort accounted for 8.5% of the pre-existing adviser force.
We have directed significant resources towards remediation"
Despite earlier having referenced provisioning for a remediation bill in the order of A$223m, IOOF acknowledged that it had not actually commenced making remediation payments because it was still collecting and assessing the data.
"IOOF has not commenced making the remediation payments that form part of this provision as we are still in the process of collecting and assessing remediation data. However, we are committed to ensuring this process is completed as quickly as possible," IOOF said.
"We have directed significant resources towards remediation and have engaged independent experts (one for investigations and another for remediation) to develop and implement (and therefore expedite) the remediation process. This will help us ensure we achieve the best outcome for our clients."
The wealth manager said it expects remediation payments to begin this year and will be able to provide further information once it has completed its internal analysis.
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