Forget FoFA, there's no magic trick to professionalismBY CHRISTOPHER PAGE | TUESDAY, 25 MAR 2014 4:39PM The Future of Financial Advice legislation has had the interesting, but increasingly frustrating virtue of resurfacing each time we all think that the debate is over. As a result ... Upgrade your subscription to access this article
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I totally agree with this article.
The intent of most legislation is to force people to do the right thing. The professionals of the financial advice industry who always provide advice in the best interests of customers will feel little impact of FOFA reforms... so why dilute them? Unlike other professions, many financial planners are employed by, or are licenced by product providers. This means that by the very nature of their remuneration they have a conflict. The customer believes they are paying for strategic advice, which the financial planner may genuinely believe they are providing - but in most instances the financial planner also has targets to meet directly related to placement of product. Unfortunately the industry is still driven by product providers, rather than independently owned practises of professional financial planners who offer strategic advice on a genuine fee-for-service basis. Only when this shifts, will we see greater recognition of our profession and a reduced need to rely on legislation to protect consumers.
Thanks for your excelelnt article Christopher, at last, the voice of reason in a world gone mad! This is exactly how we have approached these issues in our business. we have made the changes as prescribed by legislation and await the outcome of any future decisions. Meanwhile we are focussed on our clients, and are working, day by day, client by client, and always acting in our clients best interests.