Commonwealth Bank yesterday announced financial adviser education standards across its Count Financial and Financial Wisdom authorised representatives, according to the bank’s head of wealth management.
These will also be applied across the division’s non-planner staff, including managers, paraplanners and support staff, says Marianne Perkovic, executive general manager, Wealth Management Advice.
According to Perkovic, this is the first time bank staff, in addition to financial advisers, have had to comply with such standards.
Under the new standards, advisers already working for the CBA-owned AFS licensees must hold either an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning or equivalent, a relevant degree in finance, business, commerce or a Masters in Financial Planning.
Planners can also hold a degree in any field plus an accounting designation with either CPA Australia, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia or the Institute of Public Accountants.
AFA and FPA designations
Taking effect from 22 October 2014, advisers who apply to join either Count Financial or Financial Wisdom must hold a Fellow Chartered Financial Practitioner (FChFP) or Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation. These are overseen by the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) and the Financial Planning Association (FPA) respectively.
This is a key difference from the Commonwealth Financial Planning (CFPL) education standards introduced in July, which only recognised the FPA’s CFP.
Perkovic says they canvassed the views of financial planners within both Count Financial and Financial Wisdom at the same time as they were developing the CFPL education standards.
“We took some time to consult with them, and to understand that being small businesses, the impact it would have on them. But I think it was really quite overwhelming that they were very positive and supportive of the standards.”
Timeframe
Perkovic says the transition to the new training and compliance will be finalised by 31 December, 2017.
In addition to setting a minimum level of education across its aligned practices, the initiative is also part of increasing professionalism of the overall industry of financial planning.
“For our group [it was] the FPA, AFA and accounting bodies, because we do have accounting-based financial planners in their designations,” Perkovic says.
“That’s as important as the education….you have a code you need to adhere to. For us it’s an extra balance and check to ensure that the planners who are subscribing to a code, have external checks as well, which I think is really important in any profession.
The accounting professional bodies are also recognised, with another relevant qualification being a designation with a recognised accounting body.
“If the industry is really going to move to a profession, other players also need to adhere to the same standards. These are people that are responsible for monitoring financial planning.
“They’re the people who monitor and supervise their activities. I see that their role is just as important as the adviser in delivering advice to the community.”
Broader adoption?
“I guess I hope that the rest of the institutions will follow,” says Perkovic, who expects similar changes may be implemented by other institutions.
“It will be great…we came out first with the educational standards and everyone followed.
“People who monitor and supervise financial planners will be the next logical progression,” she adds.
