Labor will address what Shadow Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones MP refers to as “the mess” of adviser education qualifications in its first 100 days of coming into office, if successful in the forthcoming Federal Election.
Speaking at the AIA Adviser Summit last week Jones, the Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, said one point he meant to raise when earlier asked about their first 100 days in office, was to get “…this mess with qualifications sorted out.”
“We made an announcement before Christmas we would look at recognition of prior learning and we absolutely need to do that. We also need to have a look at the specialisations that are not recognised in the existing FASEA rules.”
Jones says it was always anticipated that there would need to be specialist learning and specialists streams within the qualifications recognition, noting he has had significant representation from brokers and also from people in the risk sector and “…and I think some pretty good points have got to be made.”
A point of action for the first 100 days would be fixing up some of those immediate messes in the qualifications space
“A point of action for the first 100 days would be fixing up some of those immediate messes in the qualifications space,” said Jones
Later in the QandA session Jones was asked again about specialisation and he stated that whatever area of financial services someone was in, there was a base line of knowledge that everyone needs to know in operating within the industry:
“There’s obviously streams within the broad advising profession. The problem we have had with the FASEA model is that they tried to squeeze everyone through the same funnel and testing people or educating people in a range of things that are just not relevant to the job they have been doing for the last 10 or 20 years.”
He said this seems to be an enormous waste of public and private resources and a conversation needed to be had.
“I actually see it as a high priority, something we should be able to start actioning immediately after the next election, if we’re are successful.”
At last, we are starting to get our message across that specialization such as Life Insurance Advice, must be separated from Investment advice and sufficient incentive to work in the risk space is provided.
Stephen Jones should be congratulated for making this statement, as up to now he is the only one who seems to understand that what has occurred in the Advised Life Insurance space has been a total disaster, brought on by ignorance, vested interest groups and an unwillingness to listen to well thought out arguments and solutions provided by experienced practitioners, who for many years warned of what would occur if the path we were sent down was not altered.
The last 5 years have been a disaster for the Life Insurance Industry, though it can be very easily turned around.
All we need is to be given the opportunity to advise, write and retain Life and Disability Insurance for all Australians, which includes allowing experienced Advisers who have been forced out of the Industry, to be encouraged to come back as specialist risk Advisers and also to mentor the next generation of risk Advisers, as without new people coming into the Industry, it simply means a continual decline until there is only a cupboard whose shelves are mostly empty and the population going without what is their basic right to decent Insurance cover at affordable prices.
It is a funny situation this one, for me to observe anyway, as I am seeing a labor politician saying what he intends to do to actually help advisers in a REAL way. I have voted liberal all my life as they always seemed good for business and business drives our country. More recently the labor party has been known for their ‘lefty’ destructive policies, support of corrupt industry funds et al.
So yes, funny to see Stephen Jones – a labor guy – as the only one with a plan to truly help advisers get back some of the traction they’ve lost over recent years. Mind you, in disgust, I’ve not voted liberal OR labor for a few years now, opting instead for one of the ‘family first’ parties just as a protest in a minuscule way.
I honestly don’t have a clue or even gut feeling who will win this next election but for the advisers who remain, especially the riskies, I hope Stephen gets to implement his plans IF he keeps his word (he is a pollie after all!). I’m definitely not sure the country will be better under Albo (prob not!) but at least long suffering advisers may get the long awaited reprieve they need. We shall see.
Yes well whoever wins and I suspect it will be the Labor Party, let’s hope it is a clear win and not a hung Parliament where a few so called “independents” or worse still the greens, have any influence on the outcome.
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