SPAA numbers boosted with Count partnership deal
The SMSF Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA) will receive a boost to its membership after partnering with Count Financial to provide education, training and membership to the latter's authorised representatives.
Count has around 530 authorised representatives providing financial planning advice, with the licensee set to provide rebates on SPAA membership, education and training.
Count chief executive David Lane said the rebates would be offered to existing and new advisers that join Count, the group supporting them to join SPAA through subsidised membership fees.
Lane said the provision of self-managed superannuation funds advice was an area of growth within financial planning that also required technical skills. He said Count advisers would benefit from SPAA's specialisation in that sector.
While SPAA uses the services of third party education providers for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) accreditation, the training provided to Count advisers would come from in-house resources at SPAA.
SPAA chief executive Andrea Slattery said the decision by Count to partner with SPAA was indicative of the shift to higher professional standards and would be the base for other similar arrangements in the future.
Slattery said the two organisations had a natural alignment via Count's focus on accountants. The partnership would improve the business proposition of accountants by raising their competencies and skills and reducing risk.
The two groups have also agreed to work together on issues relating to professional standards and advocacy, with Lane stating these two issues would become more important in the coming years.
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