AXA accreditation a success
AXA has reported its Certified Quality Advice program has experienced success, with increasing numbers of financial planning practices opting to work towards achieving the Certified Quality Advice Practice (CQAP) accreditation.
According to AXA national compliance and advisory services manager Simon Wallace, the CQAP accreditation exceeds the industry benchmark for providing quality financial advice and, as such, is hard to obtain, with only those practices with business management and service procedures of the highest standards likely to achieve the status.
“Our process sets tough, stringent guidelines for practices and advisers that are not easy to meet, and some of our bigger-value practices are still working towards their accreditation,” he said.
“Just about everyone has said it has been a fantastic experience to go through because it has made them have a good, hard look at how they run their business, and in particular, the key area of providing advice, to ensure they have the appropriate checks and balances in place.
“CQAP practices place high priority on measuring client satisfaction and expectations to ultimately offer clients a better, more complete service.”
Once obtaining the accreditation, practices undergo annual reviews that determine whether their business’ systems are kept at a high standard to ensure they retain the CQAP status.
Recommended for you
The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort says it has received over 200 claims for compensation relating to personal financial advice since its inception and detailed the specific recurring issues being raised by claimants.
Two financial advisers have shared with Money Management why they opted to specialise in certain client niches when setting up their own business.
Insignia Financial has reached a major milestone in completing the separation of MLC Wealth from NAB, having acquired the firm back in 2021.
There could be changes ahead for how ASIC requires licensees to handle conflicts of interest as the corporate regulator announces it will be meeting key stakeholders next year to update guidance.
