FASEA: Time to show brave leadership

Good advisers are in the middle of a massive regulatory squeeze. Unfortunately the current climate fails to recognise that good advisers exist. The industry needs deregulation (or streamlining of regulation) to survive enabling innovation in the delivery of advice. Instead we are adding layer upon layer of regulation that makes the industry unappealing.

As a 'shiny new graduate' why would you choose financial planning as a career? The brain drain is about to be vast & fairly sudden. Brad I don't share your confidence that 10 years will see the industry shift. Smart, bright 16-19 year olds aren't looking at financial planning as a career. We will end up with a whole heap of compliance people & regulators - but no-one to regulate.

G'day Foxy!

I have to say I'm somewhat comforted by your words here as they lead me to feel there could be some softening of the new education requirements - which I'd greatly embrace being at the lower end of the "official qualifications" scale. I could have a monumental mountain of study ahead of me and for what - so I can do pretty much what I already do!

I have to agree with Michael Chalmers though when it comes to 'shiny new advisers' entering the industry in years to come. If I had have known I had all these compliance obligations to deal with every time I just spoke to a client, limits on upfront remuneration with more to come, extended responsibility periods that I have little control over and now these new education requirements to work through and PAY for, I would never have joined this industry at all and would have stayed in a reasonably well paid PAYG role where I could shut off each night I worked out of the office.

I agree also with Michael that compliance and regulators have shifted the balance in their favour way too far now. Anyone can find fault if you look hard enough - or even fabricate / distort it in some cases as ASIC did in their handling of Report 413. This is all I see them focusing on now - never acknowledging the enormous good work we do on a day-to-day basis.

Unless there are some concessions and easing of the education requirements, I can't see how there won't be an exodus of good quality experienced advisers in the next five to six years. Yes, that could represent opportunity but with all the balls and chains tied to our legs now, who'll be bothered for the remuneration we receive, anymore.