I likewise suspect that the advisors for IOOF have been more...

I likewise suspect that the advisors for IOOF have been more diligent and engaging with clients than the ‘advisors’ the banks have allocated to individuals. In particular, ANZ OnePath has been a total cesspit of incompetence. I'll admit that this assessment is initially based on my own dealings with them, in which they demonstrated an ability to be lazy and deceptive to an extent beyond what I'd experienced with any other Australian financial institution. (I've used many over the years, including Pyramid Building Society.) However, bad reports concerning them are easily found and their Smart Choice section appears to be about the worst rated retail super on ProductReview.com.au . Also, OnePath's incompetence doesn't appear to be in areas that would gain them any signficant profit advantage, such as over-selling, just in laziness and poor management. (In my own case, the appropriate government regulator extracted a compensation payout that more than negated any profit they made from me.)

While IOOF is cleaning up their own practices, they have a massive opportunity with the ANZ acquisition to improve it and make it more valuable. (Indeed, making it worse would be extremely difficult.) I bought IFL at about $5.50 last July and remain confident that there's still an upside here.