Members of the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) have resoundingly approved a restructuring proposal that will establish the FPA as the first professional association for financial planners in Australia.
The proposal received 94 per cent approval from FPA members in person or by proxy – more than ten times as many members as had ever voted on any FPA business before. Almost half of all 8000 or so eligible FPA members cast a vote.
The result gives the FPA board the green light for a top-to-bottom overhaul of the association.
“We have not just scraped this across the line through force of personality,” says Matthew Rowe, chair of the FPA.
“We have a mandate. Our members have stood up and with one voice have said, ‘We want to be a professional body; we want to have our profession recognised in the community – and we are willing to accept change’.
“We’ve spoken about a ‘new FPA’ – but that’s not just around branding and a logo. It’s literally formed today. It’s a new organisation. It’s about clearly stating why we are here, and what we are here to do. It’s about no longer being a soft target. And it’s about professional recognition in the community.”
MORE TO COME
As an ex member I would certainly have been in that 94% yes Vote
Financial Planners look forward to an association free from product group control, free from product group influence and free from product group financing.
An association run by professional advisers and not by former product group executives.
An association that acknowledges the corrupt structure of the financial services industry and lobbies to change government policy.
An association that actively seeks to create and grow independent advice.
An association that seeks to improve the future of both advisers and consumers.