Top brass at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission have claimed on a number of occasions that the corporate regulator does not do favours. However, a series of internal emails obtained by Business Day shows ASIC gave special exemptions to the funds management industry after requests by its peak lobby group. The exemptions give big fund managers relief from having to provide reasonable and appropriate advice to their customers - including disclosing the effect of fees on a fund's investment performance. In the lead-up to the Super Choice reforms in 2005, where for the first time investors would have been able to choose between low-fee industry funds and higher-fee retail funds, the Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA - since renamed Financial Services Council) lobbied ASIC to amend the laws. ASIC duly provided exemptions for retail funds from having to disclose the effect of fees in their online calculators. These calculators are used by the likes of Colonial, MLC, AMP and BT as marketing tools that indicate investment returns after potential investors input their personal details.
