The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has formed a new group to represent the interests of licensees and their advisers.
The new Licensee Leadership Forum (LLF) will be an advocate for advisers in the political and regulatory arenas and will also address the way in which the advice industry is portrayed in the media.
The initial group of licensees who have endorsed the LLF and its aims represent around 5,000 financial advisers. The dealer groups represented at the formation meeting included: Aon Financial Planning & Protection/Aon Wealth Management, Total Financial Solutions, PIS, Consultum, Count Financial, Guardian, Millennium3, Matrix, Pivotal, RIAA and Synchron.
The formation of this group follows greater engagement between the AFA and licensee groups in recent years, where the AFA has been more proactive at the dealer group level and dealer groups in turn have been seeking a more formal way to engage with the AFA.
The launch of the LLF follows other recent initiatives by the AFA such as the formation of the AFA’s Government and Policy Committee in March 2009 and the retention of former New South Wales Liberal Opposition Leader, Kerry Chikarovski to lobby the political and regulatory spheres on its behalf.
In recent industry addresses, Ms Chikarovski has emphasised the point that politicians do take notice of their constituents if their message is consistent and if the messages are sent by large numbers of voters.
… now is the time for financial advisers to make their voice heard
Ms Chikarovski says that now is the time for financial advisers to make their voice heard, as the industry and regulators consider implementation of key aspects of the Ripoll Inquiry recommendations. Her three key messages are:
- Have your voice heard - talk to your local MP
- Make the message consistent
- Do it now
The formation of the LLF will address each of these messages, particularly in terms of having the industry speak to Canberra with a consistent voice.
Commenting on the launch of the LLF, Aon Financial Planning & Protection and Aon Wealth Management MD, Pierre Kraft, said a consistent message was needed: “The LLF gives us all the opportunity to work together to address issues of common interest and to collaborate on key policy issues in order to create vocal and effective lobbying campaigns.”
Mr Kraft’s comments were reinforced by head of Total Financial Solutions, Phil Aris, who called for clear and strong leadership: “Politics is a numbers game and as licensees, we know we need to get our collective voice heard in Canberra. The LLF provides us with the perfect forum in which to do that,” said Mr Aris.
