Super body supports value of advice

Pauline Vamos

The new chief executive of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, Pauline Vamos, has given a commitment to supporting the value of financial advice in the context of superannuation.

Vamos, who assumed leadership of ASFA just 10 days ago, told Money Management she believed there were misconceptions about ASFA’s position with respect to the value of advice.

“We support, and we understand and we promote the value of good quality advice in the superannuation industry,” she said.

“What is important and what we will work closely with the Financial Planning Association on is the types of advisory services, the choice of advisory services and choice of payment,” Vamos said.

The new ASFA chief executive agreed that what she was talking about was the scaling of advice to meet the needs and financial capacity of superannuation fund members.

“It’s not just about the scaling of advice but the other ancillary pieces of advice helping people understand the risk-return profile,” she said.

“We want people to understand why people are in a superannuation vehicle, where the money is and what they are paying for it,” Vamos said.

She said that to some degree the industry had failed to understand and take advantage of the relevant legislation when it came to providing some types of advice, such as the product issuer exemption under the Corporation Act, which allows issuers to talk about their products.