AFA welcomes FSC white paper
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has welcomed the Financial Services Council (FSC) white paper as an important contribution to the ongoing debate about the need to fix the financial advice regulatory regime.
The FSC released the ‘White Paper on Financial Advice’ earlier this week which outlined a blueprint for a simplified regulatory environment and a 37% reduction in the cost of advice.
AFA general manager, policy and professionalism, Phil Anderson, said the white paper included a number of recommendations that should help to reduce the cost and time involved in the production of financial advice.
“We particularly welcome the recommendation on the removal of the safe harbour steps, the change of a [statement of advice] to a letter of advice, and the recommendation that financial advice be tax deductible,” he said.
“We also welcome the KPMG report on the cost of financial advice, which highlights the current problem with financial advice being excessively expensive and the importance of finding solutions, including regulatory reforms to reduce this cost.
“This paper is an important input into Treasury's 2022 Quality of Advice Review, which is a big opportunity to get to the core of the issues and to find solutions to address the problems.”
Anderson said the white paper helped build momentum for change.
“We look forward to working with all stakeholders to achieve change to make sure that financial advice can remain accessible and affordable for everyday Australians,” he said.
The whitepaper had seen support from the Financial Planning Association of Australia and The Advisers Association, but Synchron raised some concerns.
AUTHOR
Liam Cormican
Recommended for you
Wealth managers have said they are experiencing difficulties in aligning their company’s in-house views with the ever-increasing needs of clients, according to MSCI.
The financial advice industry is experiencing a “champagne problem” regarding pricing, with advice firms seeing no need to cut their prices to remain competitive.
Marking a decade offering managed accounts in Australia, BlackRock has elaborated on the changes it has seen in their usage by financial advisers, with net client flows rising from 4 per cent to 25 per cent.
AZ NGA’s CEO has unpacked how its recent $345 million debt facility from Barings will accelerate its advice network’s growth ambitions, and allow its largest firms to access a greater source of funding.
