- AFA to Focus on Adapting for Change;
- AMP Names New Board Chair;
- New MDRT Qualifying Requirements for Aussie Advisers
AFA to Focus on Adapting for Change
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has announced that its focus for the coming year would be on adaptive change and would be launched at its National Practioner Roadshow in July.
AFA, Chief Executive, Brad Fox said the theme – Adaptive Change: Taking Advice Beyond the Horizon – was developed as a result of learnings from the recent Leaders Forum – Business Summit
“There was unanimous agreement that the paradigms for financial advice have changed due to a combination of political, legislative, technological, societal and economic forces,” Fox said.
“The pace of that change is accelerating and it is placing significant challenges on previously successful businesses and advisers.”
“Simply put, a lot of advice practices are feeling like their costs are going up while there is downward pressure on revenue. Advice businesses are therefore exploring ways to adapt,” Fox added.
The adaptive change model will be a key feature of the roadshow and of the AFA National Adviser Conference in October is the fourth annual theme adopted by the association, following on from ‘New Frontiers – The Age of the Consumer’; ‘Innovate: Think, Create, Act’; and most recently – ‘Connecting Knowledge with Performance’.
AMP Names New Board Chair
The former chair of AMP Life, Catherine Brenner, has been elected chair of the board of AMP Limited, six years after joining the board.
Brenner replaces John Palmer who held the role as interim Chair and is retiring after 10 years on the boards of AMP and its subsidiaries.
Until recently, Brenner was the chair of AMP Life and NMLA and is currently the chair of the Nomination and Governance Committee and is also a director of Boral and Coca-Cola Amatil, a Panel Member of Adara Partners and a member of the Corporate Governance Committee of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Brenner is also a former senior investment banker and corporate lawyer with experience in corporate advisory and equity capital markets having been Managing Director, Investment Banking at ABN AMRO.
New MDRT Qualifying Requirements for Aussie Advisers
Australian financial advisers will now be able to qualify for the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) using the Income Qualification Method for the first time.
The association stated that first time applicants would be required to complete an income certifying letter which demonstrates new business of at least the equivalent to US $47,000 and risk protection business of at least USD $47,000 with a total annual gross income of US $162,000 or more
In making the changes MDRT said the new method was a result of changes within the insurance and financial services profession and would also apply to advisers in Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.
