Many planners looking for dealer group alternatives
More than half of Australian financial planners are unhappy with the value they receive from their dealer group arrangements, but few are able to point to an alternative beyond self-licensing, according to a survey conducted by Money Management.
The survey sought readers' views on the future of financial planning dealer groups, and asked respondents if they believed they received value for the cost of their dealer group membership, with 55 per cent of 140 respondents answering "no".
On the question of whether they could think of better alternatives to the current dealer group model, nearly 50 per cent of respondents answered "yes", with most of those then proposing arrangements based around self-licensing.
Of those respondents proposing a self-licensing model, nearly 60 per cent either expressed a desire to separate product from advice or were critical of bank-aligned dealer groups.
Interestingly, a significant proportion of those commenting on new models suggested that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and industry bodies such as the Financial Planning Association (FPA) or the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) could play a greater role.
There was clear recognition amongst those arguing against the current dealer group model that there were both benefits and deficits in moving to a self-licensing model, including the loss of purchasing power and dealing with compliance issues.
However a number of respondents suggested that these problems could be overcome either through cooperative arrangements or via the FPA and AFA.
The Money Management survey remains open to responses by CLICKING HERE.
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