Financial planners and financial advisers aged over 60 should be granted special exemptions from a raft of potential regulatory changes, according to a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry into proposals to lift the professional, ethical and education standards in the financial services industry,
A director of Dean Evans & Associates, Dean Glyn-Evans, says older advisers should be exempted from new educational requirements, from having to register with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) for giving “incidental” tax advice, and from having to join a professional association to comply with a code of ethics.
Glyn-Evans says the education exemption is justified on the grounds that “they have more than enough experience”.
“Furthermore, they will be leaving the industry soon enough and this would provide the final push for many, resulting in even less experienced people to develop and mentor the newer group coming through,” he says.
“At age 60, with the prospect of retirement looming, enforced formal study would be the last thing they would be contemplating.
Incidental advice
Glyn-Evans says financial planners have traditionally given tax advice that is “incidental” to financial planning and investment advice, and for advisers aged over 60 this should continue.
“There is a current exemption for all advisers until December 2015, but this should become a permanent exemption for advisers age 60 and over, provided that a paragraph similar to that listed under “Taxation Knowledge”…is prominently displayed in both the [Financial Services Guide] and [Statement of Advice].
Glyn-Evans’ submission says any code of ethics should originate from Australian financial services licensees (AFSLs) “who would be held accountable to their own versions, which directly reflect their business relationship with existing clients”.
More than 33 years
Glyn-Evans holds a degree in economics from the University of Sydney and has been an adviser for more than 33 years. Dean Evans & Associates was established in 1989, and he was an authorised representative for another firm before that.
“I have provided advice and guidance to clients through the worst of the 1987 share crash, the 1989 mini-crash, the subsequent recession of 1990, the Gulf War of 1990/91, the Barings Bank collapse of 1995, the 1997 Asian currency crisis, the 1998 LTCM fiasco, the 2000 ‘dot-com’ tech-wreck, the September 2001 New York terrorist attack, the 2003 Iraq war, and more recently, the 2007/2008 global share crash that heralded the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
“Despite all these upheavals, I have enjoyed client continuity for over 30 years, and a growing referral base. In some cases, I have advised across three generations of one family.
“In our Financial Services Guide (FSG), it states that ‘we market strategies to clients, not products. We only recommend an investment or strategy after considering its suitability for your individual investment objectives, financial situation and needs’.”
Submissions to the PJC inquiry close on Friday.
