SMSF Association head of technical Peter Hogan said the association is urging the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) to extend the 1 January 2019 deadline and undertake further consultation.
“FASEA [has] indicated that there is going to be little or no consultation between now and when they introduce legislation into Parliament and yet there are many unanswered areas around the program and the framework they want to put in place,” Mr Hogan told delegates at the SMSF Technical Day.
“We’ve suggested the time frame is a little bit too tight and further consultation is needed,” he said.
In terms of the education framework, Mr Hogan said the SMSF Association has also highlighted the need for a difference between those with a full AFSL versus accountants with limited licences.
“We believe the fact that the education requirements for both are identical at the moment is not appropriate. We need recognition that there are different types of advice given in different ways and in different circumstances and perhaps there needs to be different education qualifications,” he said.
The association he said has also emphasised the need not only for bridging courses for people who are in the industry now, but also for new entrants to the industry, who also have qualifications and already have many years of experience.
“Not many students in year 10 think ‘you know what I’m going to be a financial adviser when I grow up’. It doesn’t happen in our experience. They’ll get accounting degrees, commerce or business degrees and so on and eventually at some stage and through that first career of theirs they may actually decide that financial planning or financial advice is something they want to do,” he said.
“There should be bridging courses for them as well rather than having to do a completely new undergraduate degree in order to enter the financial services industry.”
I guess many financial planners and their staff will not be voting for the current government at the next election.
With whats gone down at the RC there is no political capital in sticking necks out for financial planners, it’s just a simple fact. When Labor win, as it appears increasingly likely given the shenanigans going on in Canberra as we speak, do u expect things to get any easier? Labor will decimate financial planning & retail super in favour of their mates at Union Super Funds. You may as well vote for the tooth fairy because things are going to get very tough
The bloody sheer pig headed and completely arrogant approach of FASEA and ODwyer is staggering.
ODwyer is a disaster to financial advisers and has to go.
Once again FASEA just not getting it. The common sense approach has been lost in all the RC fallout. When Adviser numbers bottom out and new entrants dry up, these guys will try and unscramble the egg. Good luck with that.
The currently proposed standards are an ill considered hotch-potch by people who appear to have zero experience in the industry and even less -if that were possible- in dealing with clients.
To include law as an approved degree demonstrates this: there is not a single course in the law study that would be of any benefit to an advisor in helping a client with their financial future. Psychology is not included, while anyone with some industry experience would know that the one most important element in investing is the investor’s mindset.
I am wondering what qualifications and experience was required to be nominated to the FASEA board…..
Anon,
I’d suggest the members are all lawyers or career bureaucrats, and that none of them are planners or accountants.