It’s imperative that the government acts quickly on the QoA Review final report as the current regulatory framework is complex, hard to understand and costly to comply with, says the FPA, which has identified three quick wins.
Sarah Abood, CEO of the FPA, says the organisation particularly welcomes Michelle Levy’s recommendations on simplifying ongoing fee arrangements and enabling planners to consult and agree with clients how they would like their advice to be delivered.
She adds that the association has been working with members for many years on improving ways to deliver advice, including more client-friendly initiatives such as video SoAs. It’s pleased Levy has come to a similar conclusion about the issues with the current SoA regime.
Abood says these changes would allow financial planners to speed up the advice process “…and give consumers more relevant information, also offering the real potential to meaningfully reduce the costs involved in providing advice.”
The Quick Wins
She adds that Minister Jones has previously stated that he was looking for ‘quick wins’.
THE FPA believes the quick wins are:
- Recommendation 8 – simplifying ongoing fee consent
- Recommendation 9 – removing overly prescriptive requirements on how advice must be presented to clients
- Recommendation 13.7 – maintaining the ability for clients to choose how they pay for life insurance advice
Abood says these recommendations are broadly supported across the sector and have the potential to quickly improve consumer outcomes.
“They will also enable financial advisers and planners to provide advice more quickly and lower the costs involved in doing so.”
She says the FPA welcomes the opportunity to consult with government on many other recommendations in the report.
The association is hopeful that the changes can be finalised after consultation and legislated with a bi-partisan approach.
It notes the previous Coalition government recognised the problems with the current regime and instituted the QoA Review, selecting Michelle Levy as the reviewer and that the current Labor government has also recognised the issues, endorsed the review and its terms of reference, and supported Levy continuing in the role.
