When the founder of Storm compared his financial planning model to that of a Big Mac or a Ford production line, I think he was referring to the quality of the products offered. He is comparing his financial planning model to the fact that people pay money for poor quality food and poor quality cars, just like they pay money for poor quality financial planning through Storm Financial. Storm Consultants breached their AFSL obligations because they did not know their client. They offered the same advice to each of the clients, which resulted in great losses because they did not consider the needs of each individual client. I think the financial storm occurred in late 2008 due to the global financial crisis. The global financial crisis began in 2007 with an average fall in stock markets around the world of 15% in two weeks. The effects of the global financial crisis are ongoing and would certainly have hit a company like Storm Financial in late 2008. The writer attributes the role of arbiter to ASIC. ASIC managed to set up a website with a "My investment in Storm" section, which gives Storm victims hope that ASIC is still working on the case, but that's all they've done. I think he criticizes the actions of ASIC because he sees them as responsible for picking up the pieces, yet they haven't done much in this regard. I believe ASIC has recommended to the Parliamentary Inquiry that all forms of commission be banned on the grounds that financial services firms are abusing their knowledge and power to provide poor advice to clients in the hope that they will invest, and the company will get you commission. However, if there were no commissions available to such companies, there would be no reason to have a mediocre financial situation... middle of the paper... 30% income and 70% growth if they are willing to take risks to build a nest egg. The couple would benefit from investing through an overall account because all of their investments are under one organization, meaning they can receive a report detailing the overall performance of the assets. They can access funds via wholesale MER and will only be charged an administration fee for their investments as a whole. I recommend the pair move to more volatile stocks that will generate a higher return in the long term. They should keep their investments in cash as short-term collateral, however, the current stocks they hold will not provide the same return they could achieve if they were in a more volatile market. The couple's total earnings were $17,000 and their total losses were $4,000, so their overall capital gains were $17 000 – $4000 = $13 000.