Stronger Super flawed by absence of financial planner representation

stronger-super/cooper-review/government/government-and-regulation/AFA/brad-fox/financial-advisers/mysuper/association-of-financial-advisers/chairman/

23 September 2011
| By Mike Taylor |

The Government's Stronger Super policy package would have been better targeted if the Cooper Review panel had actually included a financial planning representative, according to the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA).

AFA chairman, Brad Fox said the process which had given rise to Stronger Super and MySuper had been flawed from the start because the Cooper Review panel had not included a representative from an adviser association.

"Advisers meet with ordinary people to discuss their financial future every day of the working week and as such have a more intimate understanding of their superannuation needs than the Government or any other segment of the industry," he said.

"In failing to consult with adviser associations, the Government has ultimately failed all Australians," Fox said. "Good advice transforms people's lives, MySuper will not."

The AFA claimed that in broad terms the Stronger Super package had failed to address key areas scoped out by the Cooper Review, and that while the Cooper Review had resolved to look at ways to promote effective competition in the superannuation system, MySuper had only reinforced the current anti-competitive structure of the industry which unfairly favoured default workplace superannuation arrangements.

"Yet again we see one rule for one segment of the industry and another for all others," Fox said.

He said the fees and charges associated with intra-fund financial advice, as an example, remained hidden from consumers because the Government had not seen fit to force disclosure.

Homepage

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

So we are now underwriting criminal scams?...

2 months ago

Glad to see the back of you Steve. You made financial more expensive, not more affordable as you claim, and presided ...

2 months ago

Completely agree Peter. The definition of 'significant change is circumstances relevant to the scope of the advice' is s...

4 months ago

Entireti has unveiled the new name for the AMP financial advice businesses that it acquired last year....

4 weeks 1 day ago

A Sydney financial adviser has been permanently banned from providing any financial services, with the regulator deriding his “lack of integrity, trustworthiness and prof...

3 weeks ago

Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, has provided further information about the second tranche of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) reforms....

1 week 6 days ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS