as a former broker and private client adviser can I say
I am surprised in this day and age there's still mileage in "what do you mean he's a salesman... I thought he was going to help me".
on what planet were you living the last 20yrs?
the insurance muck up was just wrong, the forging signatures is wrong and CBA should have copped them straight off, of course.
but
investment wise, the whole "I said I'm conservative and look what happened"... everybody wanted their money back after GFC. everybody wanted to blame someone.
you rarely meet a retail planning or broking client that deep down doesn't want to absolve themselves of responsibility for their investments, onto the advisor whilst retaining the right to claim "I want my money back!" if it all goes pear shaped.
in effect "if the advice wins it's my gain, but if the advice looses it's your liability"
that's not right.
lastly, it's not CBA. that's the industry. shade of grey sure, but it's a sales industry, advisors sell product
and the reason the industry is like it is, is the same reason facebook is free
people would rather cop the "hidden" commission than write a cheque for a fee for service.
it's not that one's right and one's wrong. it's that people only care when they loose and they look for any way to be made whole.
