The release of the 2015 Intergenerational Report yesterday highlights the growing challenges of funding retirement, and the Financial Planning Association’s upcoming national roadshow will focus on how financial planners can better help clients meet their retirement goals.
The chief executive of the FPA, Mark Rantall, says more than 1000 members have already registered to attend the 33-date tour, just three days after registrations opened.
Rantall urged anyone wishing to attend the show to register as soon as possible, before the capacity of venues is exceeded.
With a theme of “strategies for excellence, today and tomorrow”, Rantall says there will be two key take-aways from the roadshow.
“One is to give attendees the tools and resources they need to help them deal with myriad legislative changes that have happened over the last 12 months to two years. That’s the first focus.
“And the second focus is in partnership with Challenger and Zenith, to give attendees practical tools and resources to help them deal with those clients approaching and in retirement – to help them with both the technical aspects of that, and portfolio management in a very low interest rate environment.”
Started with FoFA
The legislative changes started with the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms, but also include the Financial System Inquiry (FSI); the Parliamentary Joint Committee inquiry into professional, ethical and education standards; and compliance with the Tax Practitioners Board requirements.
Rantall says legislative and regulatory changes can be viewed as a compliance burden and as an impost, but they can also be embraced and adapted into planning processes constructively.
… “ensuring that people understand and know how they can comply with these regulatory changes at the highest level”, Rantall says.
“As an example, how do you implement the best interests duty as it’s been delivered by FoFA?” Rantall says.
“How do you deliver on a combination of opt-in and fee disclosure statements?
“And another thing is: what do the higher educational standards mean? There’s a lot of misinformation about that.”
Rantall says the roadshow will place a heavy emphasis on practical examples and case studies, and “I will guarantee that anyone in attendance will come away with something that they can implement in their business”.
Non-FPA members are also welcome to attend the roadshow, which will be accredited with two CPD points. There is no cost to attend, and each event includes a complimentary breakfast or lunch.
