The dinner party came to a screaming halt as the hosts' daughter introduced her just-home-from-the-pet-shop Netherlands dwarf rabbit to the until-then docile Snoozy the Schnauzer.
Two seconds later, Snoozy was licking her chops, the daughter was sobbing, and the bunny was ... gone.
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Last week, I spoke with Instreet Investment head George Lucas, who says 20 per cent of planners' inquiries for clients are about direct investment in residential property, in contrast to five years ago when that figure was 5 per cent.
One of the main reasons for direct property's rise, he says, "is that it's not a financial product, and therefore it's not under FOFA. Long-term, property is a good asset, a hedge against inflation, and it's an investment in Australia".
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Just over a week ago, one of our sister publications, InvestorDaily, reported that Mortgage Choice now has an AFSL and is finalising tenders for its platform, operating software and risk insurance panel, with a 'soft launch' in October. The broker will reposition itself as a "diversified financial services and wealth solutions business", chief executive Michael Russell says.
The 80,000 mortgage inquiries annually will be channelled as "strong lead flow" into the financial advice arm, and more than 200 financial advisers have registered interest in franchises under the Mortgage Choice Financial Planning umbrella.
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Now. Join the dots with me.
Dot #1: Snoozy was a 'wouldn't-hurt-a-fly' darling - until her long-suppressed wolfish origins reared up at the smell of the hapless bunny. And in one second, Snoozy shrugged off her immaculate and expensively clipped coat to reveal the wolf in dog's clothing.
Dot #2: SMSFs are the fastest-growing sector of this country's superannuation mega-industry, and their interest in property investment is growing.
Dot #3: Mortgage Choice is a mortgage broker and it's moving into the financial advice sector. Its CEO is quite up front that mortgage inquiries will be channelled into the advice franchises.
FOFA is about many things, with two of the most important being the removal of commissions or any kind of conflicted advice, and the clients' best interests being at the forefront of all advice.
Maybe I'm being a dumb bunny, but when Mortgage Choice channels a mortgage lead to a Mortgage Choice Financial Planning franchisee-adviser, will that customer be directed to a Mortgage Choice competitor?
Honestly, I can't imagine that if I totter off to the Rolls-Royce rep, then I'll be directed to the competing dealers flogging Jags, Mercedes or BMWs if those cars better fit my needs. In the best of all possible worlds, that kind of altruism just may happen, but I seriously doubt it.
So, you can see where my dots are joining. FOFA has only just begun to pick out the rotten apples - George Lucas's description, not mine - and no sooner has the barrel been cleaned out than another conflict of interest is being delivered to the unsuspecting customer.
A wolf is a wolf is a wolf, no matter how immaculate and expensively clipped his/her coat appears. Property investment is the lure. The target is in the spotlight. Hopefully, this time, Captain ASIC and Black Widow APRA will hurl themselves into the fray before the bunny becomes rabbit stew.
