FPA condemned over CommFP response
The Financial Planning Association’s (FPA) response to the Commonwealth Bank financial planning fallout has elicited a scathing retort from the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP), who accused the association of being opportunistic.
In an open letter to FPA chair Matthew Rowe, AIOFP executive director Peter Johnston said the association had unfairly condemned the wider advice industry for what he called a “product manufacturer/management issue”.
“Why are the FPA continually seizing on opportunities to denigrate the advice industry?” he said.
Johnston said he believed the FPA were opportunistically trying to use the incident to draw attention to its 10 point plan and in turn, ignoring other stakeholders.
He said the matter was better left to the Financial Services Council (FSC) and should not be seen as an “industry-wide dilemma that the white knight FPA must fix”.
In the letter, Johnston also accused the FPA of having a “servitude relationship with the regulators” and supporting the elevation of its judicial power to “act on suspicion” without evidence of wrongdoing.
The FPA have been contacted for comment, but did not reply before Money Management’s deadline.
Recommended for you
With an advice M&A deal taking around six months to enact, two experts have shared their tips on how buyers and sellers can avoid “deal fatigue” and prevent potential deals from collapsing.
Several financial advisers have been shortlisted in the ninth annual Women in Finance Awards 2025, to be held on 14 November.
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
