Kate Anderson, general manager at Class, said the next instalment of the QAR is “one that we haven’t touched on with regard to Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing regimes”.
“[This will impact] real estate agents, accountants, and a few others who are now going to have to adhere to those obligations. There will be company and trust service providers as well. [The industry] will need to give great consideration to that over the next 12 months,” she said.
“[Already] we’ve gone through a Royal Commission and then the 22 recommendations, 14 of which were approved. Now we’re into the QAR tranche one and we have pre-disclosure statements and changes to that.”
Anderson said the sector is now waiting to see what the second tranche will entail and what changes will be made to the SOA, which is set to be replaced with an advice record.
“Clients don’t have to sit down and try to understand a 150-page document. We’ve got changes to the safe harbour and best interest, we’ve got changes to the definition of personal advice, and also the accessibility of that advice, which hopefully falls into making it more affordable,” she said.
“As an industry, it gives us a last chance to try and get this right, and to meet those unmet advice needs, and try to reduce red tape.”
She continued that if clients want to read the recommendations their advisers put forward, and they’re in a better position to understand that advice, it will help them make more informed choices because they feel more confident.
“It will also mean they’ll value that advice more, because they’ll actually understand what you’re trying to tell them and the complexities and the reasons you put a recommendation forward,” she said.
“I think the SOA is a long time coming and I think that it will be really valuable, both from the practitioner perspective of not having to produce that 150-page document, but also for the client.”
Furthermore, Anderson said it will hopefully make advice more scalable so an SMSF trustee can ask for help more readily.
“That’s what they want – more accessible, affordable advice, and maybe more SMSF members will go and seek financial advice for the things they need help with,” she said.
Peter Burgess, SMSF Association CEO, said research has revealed that one of the reasons people don’t get advice when establishing an SMSF is the cost.
“This is about reducing the cost. It’s about making advice more accessible and if we get it right, we will see super funds providing more advice than they are now,” he said.
“I’d like to think that we’re getting individuals in these larger funds that could benefit from a self-managed super fund, and they’re going to get that referral to an adviser to do that.”
