Full year 2018 results, page-14

The elephant in the room here is not about how much they will pay out or how many heads roll - both will be big numbers IMO and I truly hope they are. The issue which is not being talked about is “Trust”.....

Regardless of what @Richie and others who remain bullish on the stock citing various predictive reference material or the rationale “it’s still a big business hence it has been oversold” are avoiding this blindingly obvious issue.

Consumer and Advisers “Trust” has been acutely and possibly terminally damaged with this business. The old saying “sh!*%t sticks” doesn’t come from nowhere.

The decision to retain advise fees on “orphan clients” was not that of the departed adviser nor the remaining active advisers in their network. This went directly back to head office coffers. The cost of these highly damaging findings I am sure Ian having a horrific effect on all ANP advisers and their businesses which they have spent their lifetimes building up - and are seeing them destroyed by circumstances they had no control over. Some may say they were complicit but from what I’ve seen in this industry the adviser force did what they were instructed to do under the nuance of “best practice” as instructed by their Licensee and hence worked with what they had been told they had to work with (for better or worse). It is no wonder FUM numbers are trending south - good luck trying to sell anything to mum and dad with such a tarnished brand. Consumers may be considered apathetic and naive - but when it comes to their savings and livelihoods they’re not all stupid.

I am staggered that there contributors on this forum that think that somehow the storm clouds have passed and all will magically return to the way it was. IMO this theme of Trust goes to the core of whether we will see a turnaround (outside of the immediate fallout issues of the RC such as possible prosecutions, fines, Class Actions), of which all of these place further pressure on this theme.

As previously stated I am keen to hear and see what the plans need are to address this key issue - both and short and long term as without these I do not believe anyone can accurately predict what the future holds for this corporation.