Standards body looks to set new height bar

Australia’schief standards setting organisation, Standards Australia, has revealed plans to develop a new national standard for financial advisers.

While a timetable for the release of the standards has not been agreed to, the organisation says it is being developed to lift the level of competency in the financial planning industry, particularly in light of recent reports into the industry.

The chairman of Standards Australia’s committee for personal financial planning, David Williams, says one of the goals of the standards will be to define the process of financial planning, removing some of the inconsistencies in the industry.

“One of the major problems is that planning is very inconsistent. The rationalisation of the financial industry through mergers and acquisitions has led to institutional dealers struggling to add significant value for consumers,” he says.

As well as the national standards, Standards Australia is also heavily involved with the International Organisation for Standardisation’s (ISO) long-standing project to develop internationally recognised benchmarks for the planning industry.

The news comes as theFPAhas made changes to its own professional standard, the CFP mark.

The new structure will allow professionals who hold designations such as the CPA and CA marks to skip the first four units of the CFP program and proceed directly to the final assessment unit.

The head of the FPA’s education unit, Ken Bruce, says the new benchmark being considered by Standards Australia could initially add to the confusion of consumers over financial planning qualifications, but would ultimately add to better perceptions of the industry.