Daily Insider: Power of independence – Sean Peche, financial whistleblower

START YOUR MORNING BY LISTENING TO TODAY'S BIZNEWS BREAKFAST BRIEFING PODCAST: Shares rise for fourth successive week; Institutions driving Crypto; Telkom tussles; Some small SA industrial shares post share price increases. .LATEST ON BIZNEWS.COM: .South Africans speak: Helen Zille a beacon of true character and leadership Upholding the right to transparent free trading – Adam Pike Gut alternatives to antidepressants – Psychiatrist on mental healthSLR: Ignore the entrenched power of civil servants at your perilHope and dreams no substitute for sensible economic policies Let's raise a glass to the township moms who fought so hard to raise usYour health is directly impacted by loneliness and social isolation, study findsPeak dreams of Deshun Deysel, South Africa's unstoppable summiteer Paul Harris dusts off his FirstRand playbook – a quarter century later (Premium)Why Amazon paid $1.7 billion for a Roomba (Premium) .NB: Getting this newsletter second hand? Click here for your own copy. It's free and takes under a minute..Power of independence – Sean Peche, financial whistleblower .When Sean Peche went public last week with his comments on the Balance Fund unit trusts ripoff (aggressive marketing hiding big fees charged despite awful returns) you just knew it would touch a nerve with our tribe. But the extent of the reaction has been a surprise. .Personally, there has been lots of spontaneous feedback from friends, family and associates. More broadly, Sean's article on BizNews.com has been read by 20 000 people; the YouTube recording of our 20-minute interview viewed by 13 000; and the podcast consumed by a thousand listeners. Given the niched nature of the topic, that's exceptional. .Reason: Peche is a rare bird in the financial services sector. He's prepared to speak his mind because his firm is not beholden to vested interests. That makes his opinions a valuable counter to the incumbents benefitting from an archaic status quo. Peche illustrates the power of true independence. .Despite the feedback and the highly critical nature of Peche's allegations, we haven't heard a peep from Allan Gray, Coronation or Ninety One, SA's Big Three asset managers. Although the reference is obvious, Peche did not actually name the trio which harvest more than R3bn a year in management fees from these awful performers. So they appear to have borrowed from the Bain & Co playbook – brazen it out and hope that we'll all forget about it. .UPCOMING EVENTS – SIGN UP NOW .BizNews Conference – August 30 to Sept 3There have been a few late hotel room cancellations for BNC#4, so if you were hoping to join us at Champagne Sports Resort in a fortnight but couldn't because we were sold out, secure a spot now – click here for the details..Tuesday 16th August – Cryptocurrency Webinar – Market Update and Adoption TrendsJoin Alec Hogg tomorrow at 12h00 for a webinar where he is joined by Jaltech's team of cryptocurrency experts. The webinar is free and open to all, but you do need to register beforehand – click here to sign up. .To catch up on the best of BizNews from last week, click on the image below for the full BizNews Digest.data-title=" WATCH: The DA remains adamant that an ad-hoc committee is the most appropriate and effective means through which to hold President Cyril Ramaphosa accountable for the allegations stemming from the Phala Phala robbery in February 2020. But in July this year, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula denied their request, citing other organs of state which were dealing with the matter. Meanwhile, the Speaker announced that she would refer the African Transformation Movement's (ATM) Section 89 motion – to impeach Ramaphosa – to an independent panel composed of three panel members. DA deputy chief whip Siviwe Gwarube told BizNews parties have until 1 September to put forward their nominations for the panel. She argues that a newly announced probe into the Phala Phala matter by the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) would be limited in its scope, probing only two aspects. These include deputy state security minister Zizi Kodwa's alleged involvement in a cover-up, and the abuse of intelligence funds. Ramaphosa would be spared scrutiny by the JSCI, which operates behind closed doors with all committee members sworn to secrecy. Should the Section 89 Committee find a prima facie case for Ramaphosa's impeachment, Gwarube explains it will require a two-thirds majority to boot the President from office.".To receive the Daily Insider every weekday at 6am in your inbox click here. You can also sign up to the weekend's BizNews Digest for a wrap of the best content BizNews has to offer, for a leisurely Saturday read.

Daily Insider: Power of independence – Sean Peche, financial whistleblower

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