FPA raises the bar for its members
Jo-Anne Bloch
Financial Planning Association (FPA) chief executive Jo-Anne Bloch kicked off this year’s FPA National Conference with four significant announcements, which could lead to drastic changes industry-wide.
She launched the proposed initiatives after referring to the media’s uptake of mainly negative financial planning news, which she claimed could be reversed with the help of the proposals.
The first proposal surrounded the release of a new Certified Financial Planner (CFP) promotional campaign, aimed at encouraging more planners to aspire to CFP status as well as to raise awareness among consumers.
However, Bloch assured conference delegates the campaign would be treated in such a way as to not alienate non-CFP members of the association.
At the other end of the education spectrum, Bloch announced the FPA was committed to increasing the minimum requirements of entry into the profession.
“We think PS 146 for financial planners is too low an entry, so we want to be able to say we think the minimum standard for being a practising financial planner should be the Diploma of Financial Planning plus one year’s experience,” Bloch told Money Management.
The third initiative announced by Bloch at the conference related to the FPA’s complaints and disciplinary system as well as its compliance framework.
Specifically, the FPA plans to instigate a 12-person conduct review committee to be chaired by a former judge.
This panel of experts will also be looking to ‘name and shame’ if appropriate.
Bloch’s final announcement was that the FPA would be supporting a move towards greater industry co-regulation.
“We are looking at a three to five year time horizon in terms of community perception and understanding of it, but next year is the year in terms of bringing it all together and having a professional framework identified,” she said.
“If we don’t do it next year, surely someone else will do it for us.”
The FPA is calling for member feedback on its proposed initiatives, which have been detailed in consultation papers.
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