FPA rejects superannuation product industry critics

The superannuation product industry has used the Government's recently-announced amendments to the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) changes to again depict financial planners in a negative light, according to Financial Planning Association (FPA) chief executive Mark Rantall.

In a statement issued this week, Rantall referenced the opportunity provided by the Government's amendments, but said "we have seen a predictable reaction to these amendments from sectors of the superannuation product industry, using fear and misinformation to once again depict financial planners in a negative light".

Rantall's statement comes in the wake of criticism from Industry Super Australia that the Government's FOFA changes will serve to undermine important consumer protection.

He said the criticisms of financial planners ignored the fact that they were working in a world-leading regulatory environment.

"Our position on these regulatory matters is quite clear: consumer protection laws remain intact and at world's best standard," he said. "Combined with this robust legal foundation, professional financial planners who have individually subscribed to a binding code of professional practice not only have nothing to fear, they have everything to gain in this new environment."

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Rantall also signaled that the FPA would be continuing to push its professionalism message to consumers this year, saying the organisation would "seek to remind all consumers that the FPA is Australia's first choice for professional members who deliver high-quality, consumer-protected financial advice".

"Where others stand for product, the FPA and its members stand for advice, and advice outcomes that make a lasting positive difference in the lives of all Australians. We make no judgement on those who represent their case on the basis of their product ambitions," he said.