STEPHEN CRANSTON: Personal finance issues show up much the same across the world
The fiduciary rule is designed to protect investors from brokers who push high-fee products
Of all forms of financial journalism, covering personal finance is considered the most localised. Even though the Financial Times is now a global publication, its personal finance section is carried only in the UK domestic edition. Yet its fund management supplement, with its focus on institutions, is carried internationally. There are good reasons to see personal finance reporting as a highly parochial endeavour. There are obvious factors such as the differences in tax regime, the ways in which brokers get paid and the legal framework. But the issues are converging around the world. For a start, we are all equally fed up with those commercials for insurance companies (as well as dentures) that feature beaming pensioners either on the beach or sailing a yacht. Even in the US, for all its wealth, that’s a pipe dream for most. Here in SA, we have even named our Retail Distribution Review after a similar exercise in the UK. In the US, they are going through much the same change with wh...
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