The chief executive officer of the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA), Mark Rantall, has called on the financial planning community to take matters into their own hands to combat incessant negative publicity.
In front of packed house of 500 FPA members yesterday on the Melbourne leg of the 33-date national roadshow, Rantall said the past 12 months had been “a rollercoaster of emotions” for financial planners, with good work and positive steps often overshadowed by adverse publicity.
He said this negativity can be effectively combatted by financial planners themselves, and said that in coming days and weeks the FPA would be providing its members with the information they need to approach and engage with members of parliament, and to strongly and publicly promote membership of the FPA.
This would be supported by an extensive national advertising campaign to promote the CFP designation, under the slogan “Certified Financial Planner – it’s all you need to know”; and by a newly designed logo featuring the CFP symbol and the words “The sign of good advice”.
Rantall said that “if every Certified Financial Planner around the country – and there’s 5500 of them – called themselves a Certified Financial Planner – Certified Financial Planner – and they had on average 200 clients, that’s over a million Australians who would know the difference”.
“I think it’s time we took matters into our own hands,” he said.
“We don’t need to be victims. Imagine what kind of a movement we would create, as a profession, if we led by example and supported our pro bono activity and our philanthropic activity through Future2 Foundation.
“Imagine if we all reached out to our local MPs and promoted higher education and professional standards. And imagine if you spoke out loudly and proudly about what we have achieved and what you have done, and what you do for your clients, and the educational standards and certification that you have achieved.”
Rantall said it can “sometimes feel like we’re taking one step forward and a couple of steps back”.
“But there are thousands of financial planners – the majority in this room – who deserve widespread recognition and respect. Whilst I wholeheartedly believe we’re on the path to achieving this, it’s hard not to feel a little deflated and disillusioned by the ongoing negative press.
“There will always be those who feel it’s helpful to denigrate our profession, or impart their ill-informed positions or information. So with so much scrutiny on the profession, and so much that we can’t control, I ask you to remember that there’s plenty that we can control. And I’d like to call out three things that we can do together.”
Rantall said the first thing is to lead by example.
“We can control the way we talk about our peers, and the way we show up every single day and the way we interact with our local communities,” he said.
Rantall said the Future2 Foundation was an example of the profession’s interaction with the community, last year raising $267,000 for community projects nationwide.
“We can also control the way we deliver outstanding client experiences,” Rantall said.
“That ensure that our clients tell family and friends about the great work you do as a financial planner. And there’s nothing, as you know, more powerful than word of mouth. If we create that word of mouth and be deliberate about it, I believe we’ll have a massive impact to dissipate the negativity that currently pervades our profession.
“By doing this we empower the public to make their own judgements about the profession, rather than take the judgements that are printed in the media, or what they hear.”
The second thing Rantall urges FPA members to do is to reach out to their local members of parliament.
“FPA members are an amazingly powerful voice for the profession,” Rantall said.
“When you go and see your local MP, in your electorate, they will listen. The power of over 8000 practitioner members we have and over 11,000 members in total is extraordinary when we marshall ourselves.
“I’d encourage you to do this by supporting higher education and professional standards that are housed on the PJC recommendations that are currently on the table for consideration; and talking about that with your local MP, everyone of you can play a pivotal role in securing a better financial future for Australians.”
Rantall said that “in coming days” the FPA would send members a “toolkit for reaching out to your local members”. It is not the first time the FPA has done this, he said, but in the current environment the right approach to politicians can “make a significant difference”.
Finally, Rantall said FPA members should ”demonstrate who you are, and what you have achieved, through your credentials”.
“FPA members commit to higher professional standards,” Rantall said.
“If you’re an FPA member, let your clients know what that means – that you’re not like every other financial planner that may be in the media.
“If you’re an FPA Professional Practice, tell your clients and let them know what it means. And importantly, if you’re a Certified Financial Planner, make sure you leverage your advertising campaign – which you funded: ‘It’s all you need to know’.
“The campaign…is covering 46 newspapers and 41 radio stations right around the country – national, metro and regional mastheads. In addition to this it will appear online in a wide range of websites and social media.”
Rantall also announced the launch of six scholarships, in conjunction with 2015 roadshow partner Challenger.
“The FPA is pleased to announce a program of six scholarships to cover the cost of the retirement planning course of the University of NSW, valued at $3750,” Rantall said.
“Recipients can study either on campus in Sydney…or by distance learning. We hope to offer one scholarship per state, and we’ll be releasing more information about this soon.”
Rantall said the FPA is happy to receive pre-registration expressions of interest from its members.
Professional Planner is the official media partner to the 2015 FPA National Roadshow
