Bryan Ashenden, Jeffrey Scott, Tracy Wilcox: Ethics for advisers

The FASEA Code of Ethics has the potential to change the way the financial advice profession is perceived by the country. However, there are considerable challenges in interpreting the code and in applying it congruently in practice. This session explores the ethical frameworks from academia and theoretical case studies that can be assimilated by advisers to broaden their confidence in meeting the code.

SPEAKERS
Bryan Ashenden, head of financial literacy and advocacy, BT Financial
Jeffrey Scott, head of advice strategy, Metlife
Tracy Wilcox, Associate Professor, UNSW
Moderator: Matthew Smith, director, retail content, Conexus Financial

Key Takeaways

• Professional Planner has again taken the Ethics for Advisers podcast series concept to the live stream again, this time with UNSW’s Tracy Wilcox and BT’s Bryan Ashenden to dissect three ethical scenarios advisers face in their every day working lives in the context of FASEA’s code of ethics.
• The three scenarios brought up situations in which advisers felt their employer’s products were being pushed on clients, a scenario in which a client was bragging about fraudulently benefiting from an insurance claim, and a conundrum relating to ongoing service and whether an adviser’s time is priced appropriately.
• Wilcox and Ashenden references Standards 3, 5 and 7 in particular in their appraisals of the scenarios.
• While Standard 3 was initially the standard that drew them most comments and criticisms from advisers when the Code of Ethics and its guiding principles were first published, it’s standard 5 in particular that’s been getting more attention recently, Ashenden noted.
• In a nutshell, Asheden describes the essence of standard 5 as making sure advisers are in a position where the client can never raise a complaint that they didn’t understand the advice.