Henri Aram, a finance markets gadfly, and a pioneer in the push for impartial investment advice based on openly negotiated fees, died on April 19. He was 101.
Pictured in 2012, at the age of 90, Henri Aram was probably Australia’s oldest and most experienced financial adviser.At first, even Jewish families escaping from Hitler’s murderous regime were classed as enemy aliens and housed in remote areas, but the energetic 15-year-old Aram struck out in the world.
He was “one of the very few involved in the push for fee for service,” says Paul Clitheroe, a founding director of IPAC, the financial planning firm. In 2009, during the first jittery months after the GFC, National Australia Bank chairman Michael Chaney sought to placate retail shareholders angry over the dilution of their equity following the issue of new shares to institutional shareholders.Within a few months of the placement, the latter were enjoying a 30 per cent plus gain from a $2 billion capital raising.