Financial Planning Week kicks off today and the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has marked the occasion with a new-look website and a consumer guide to the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms.
It is the twelfth year that Financial Planning Week has been held, and it again has the overarching aim of improving public trust and confidence in financial planners and the services they provide.
In particular, it will promote the benefits of using a financial planner who has the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation.
The chief executive of the FPA, Mark Rantall, says a number of FPA chapters around the country will be holding Financial Planning Week events, and a week-long community focus on financial planning is an important part of getting the message out about the benefits of seeking professional advice.
“Research shows that people with a dedicated financial planner are more likely to feel financially secure and are more confident in dealing with their greatest financial concerns than those without,” Rantall said in a statement.
Part of the revamped FPA website is a plain-English explanation of the FoFA reforms, and what they really mean for consumers, under the heading “New laws to improve the quality of financial advice”, in the “Tools and resources” section of the site.
The FPA believes that while the industry itself has focused intensely on the reforms, within the community at large there is a much lower level of awareness of what the reforms are and how they will affect consumers.
The page is designed so that financial planners can refer consumers to a simple explanation of how the FoFA reforms will potentially affect the provision of financial advice.
The FPA website also contains links to the Australian Government’s MoneySmart website and to its series of FAQs on FoFA.
