FASEA should draw line between accountants and advisers: AccountantsIQ


AccountantsIQ founder, Bronny Speed, has accused the Financial Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) of not comparing apples with apples, finding that an overhaul of accountants’ qualifications might be a detriment to the industry.
Speed said she examined the confusion in the marketplace around the proposed FASEA reforms and found that accountants are well-positioned as far as the standards are concerned and should be able to continue to practice in their chosen field without further study.
Speed posed that accountants shouldn’t be subject to the same study requirements just because others in the industry had done the wrong thing by their clients.
“This thought is further strengthened by the fact that all financial advisers have to successfully complete an exam by 1 January 2021, simply to be able to advise beyond that date,” she said. “So, why should ‘study for study’s sake’ even be considered? What’s the point of further bridging courses, when the abovementioned exam will contain much of the same subject matter?”
Recommended for you
Despite the government agreeing to replace SOAs with CARs, the FAAA and SIAA believe greater streamlining of documentation is needed for the change to have a positive impact on advisers.
There are “multiple black swan events” threatening the financial advice industry currently, according to the FAAA’s Phil Anderson, potentially running up the compensation bill for advisers.
Former national business growth manager at AMP Advice has taken a new role at Sequoia Financial Group.
With the ESG label often causing confusion among investors, Nanuk Asset Management has encouraged financial advisers to use more plain, specific language with their clients.