In whose interests we really serve: intra-fund advice
There is nothing quite like a dose of Real Politik to create clarity of focus.
Thus, anyone who was surprised by the official line of the Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) on the question of intra-fund advice has now had a reality check.
What is that reality? That IFSA only represents the interests of financial planners insofar as they do not conflict with the interests of its broader constituency — product manufacturers. Forced to make a choice on a key industry issue — advice within super — IFSA went with self-interest.
All of which must make the dealer groups that have paid handsomely to sit at the IFSA table reflect upon the value of their investment.
Equally, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) must also be ruing the occasions on which they allowed IFSA to make the running in Canberra on broader financial service industry policy.
Of course, no one was surprised at the positions adopted by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) or the Industry Super Network. There has never been any doubt about whose interests those organisations serve.
Perhaps, then, it is more than time for the financial planning industry to put self-interest first and ensure its message to Government is not diluted by other interests.
Which brings us back to IFSA and its decision to appoint former NSW Liberal Opposition leader John Brogden as its chief executive replacing Richard Gilbert.
A good deal might be said about Brogden’s appointment, including the manner of his departure as leader of the NSW Parliamentary Liberal Party, but the most obvious question must be how the IFSA board envisages a former NSW Liberal Party politician will interact with an incumbent Federal Labor Government.
Of course, political lobbying is not all about party or tribal loyalties, but the Australian Labor Party is renowned for long memories — some long enough to recall Brogden’s pre-parliamentary involvements.
- Mike Taylor
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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