Courses to combat lack of consumer confidence
Half of those working within the financial planning industry believe there is a crisis of investor confidence in the sector, according to aSecurities Institutesurvey.
Respondents to the survey were split on the reasons for this lack of confidence, some believing it is due to market falls and others past under-regulation of the industry.
The Securities Institute survey of 135 financial planning professionals also found that 89 per cent believe the Financial Services Reform Act (FSRA) will raise industry standards, moving toward alleviating this investor suspicion.
The Securities Institute has introduced four new financial planning courses in response to the Financial Services Reform Act (FSRA) that aim to raise industry education standards for both current participants and new entrants to the financial planning arena.
Students will be able to undertake a Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning), an Advanced Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning), a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning or a Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning.
The new courses have been approved by the National Finance Industry Training Advisory Board (NFITAB) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The four courses will exceed the minimum requirements set out by ASIC, according to Securities Institute marketing manager Robert Swinton.
Exceeding basic educational requirements was important to the industry according to the Securities Institute survey, with 86 per cent of firms planning to train advisers further than these minimum requirements.
It also found that 63 per cent believe all financial planners should possess postgraduate qualifications.
The results of the survey suggest that qualifications were increasingly important, with 76 per cent of respondents feeling that individual qualifications of financial planners would influence the buying decisions of consumers.
According to the results of the survey, the FSRA changes have impacted on 90 per cent of financial planning businesses, with 26 per cent seeing the changes as positive, and 57 per cent as neutral.
Contrary to popular belief, 40 per cent of respondents did not believe the FSRA reforms went far enough.
Swinton says that on the whole planners believe the changes are best for the industry, though it meant more difficulties for them in the short term.
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