Too many interest groups competing for planners
There are too many organisations seeking to represent the financial planning industry, according to the results of a survey conducted by Money Management.
The survey, conducted during the Financial Planning Association (FPA) national conference on the Gold Coast late last month, revealed a strong majority of respondents believe there are too many organisations seeking to represent the interests of the industry.
The survey found 62 per cent of respondents believe there are too many organisations trying to represent financial planners, while 38 per cent believe this did not represent a problem.
Elsewhere in the survey, Money Management nominated five organisations operating in the financial planning space and asked respondents to nominate those to which they belonged, with the most popular organisations emerging as the FPA, the Association of Financial Advisers and the Investment and Financial Services Association.
Respondents were also asked what they regarded as being the major issues currently confronting financial advisers, with 50 per cent nominating the world market meltdown and 20 per cent ranking value of advice as the most pressing issue.
Despite the ongoing debate fuelled by the industry funds’ ‘compare the pair’ advertising campaign, only 17 per cent of respondents believe fee-for-service versus commissions remain a primary issue for the financial planning industry.
Remarkably, only 12 per cent of respondents believe declining returns for their clients represent a front-rank issue.
The Federal Government may have taken a lot of flak over its decision to provide a deposit guarantee for the banks, but the Money Management survey found it was a move broadly supported by the majority of financial planners.
The survey found 57 per cent of respondents believe the Government had been justified in guaranteeing bank deposits while 43 per cent took the opposite view.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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