The Financial Planning Association’s 2016 National Roadshow starts in Frankston on April 27 and will visit 33 locations around the country before it concludes in Wollongong on July 22.
A lot has changed since the FPA last went out on the road a year ago – not least of which is that the association itself has a new chief executive in Dante De Gori.
“It is an honour to step into the role of CEO of the FPA, and I look forward to speaking with members face-to-face at the roadshow,” De Gori says.
“It’s an exciting time for our profession.”
De Gori says that over the past 12 months “we’ve seen progress and hopefully closure on the [Future of Financial Advice] amendments; the introduction of the life insurance reforms; and the government’s vision for professional and education standards for financial planners”.
“We’ve seen the progression of FoFA, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements, and the Tax Agent Services Act has moved into a new phase,” he says.
“We have also seen a change in prime minister, treasurer and assistant treasurer since the last roadshows, and we expect this will lead to changes in the tax and superannuation settings we’re likely to see out of the budget.
“And there is the possibility of an imminent election, so there are already some discussions on possible policies which will be taken to the next election.”
Affects planners and their clients
De Gori says the FPA is seeking to make sure members who attend any one of the roadshow events will leave “equipped with the latest information around how these changes will affect them and their clients”.
He says it is also important that financial planners make sure their businesses are prepared for the future.
“We spend time and effort understanding these changes for members, so that we can provide them support, guidance and well-informed answers to any questions they have,” De Gori says.
“We will also build on last year’s FPA Roadshow toolkit with some tips and tools on how to engage with clients in the area of further advice.”
De Gori says it took longer than the profession hoped to finalise some of the aspects of FoFA but there is now certainty on key issues, including opt-in and fee disclosure statements, and “we don’t expect any more changes to FoFA in the foreseeable future”.
“The life insurance reforms have progressed through parliament in a reasonably smooth manner, and we’re obviously keen to see where the government progresses with the professional standards and education framework,” De Gori says.
He says the association is expecting professional and education standards to be clarified in the coming 12 months, and considerable progress made on establishing the standards body that is charged with determining the education standards and developing an industry-wide code of ethics.
“Once the body is set up, hopefully we can get some certainty around who will need to transition and what standards new entrants into the industry will need to comply with,” he says.
Concerns over code of ethics
The FPA continues to have concerns about the proposed structure and monitoring of a code of ethics.
“As we noted in our submission to Treasury, we have a high level of concern over the idea of a single code of conduct for the profession,” De Gori sys.
“We also feel that the proposed approval process and working of the supervision and monitoring schemes is the wrong way around, in that professional bodies should provide the professional norms and supervision for financial planners who are complying with their code of ethics, rather than the licensee or regulator.
“We would hope that the next draft of the legislation places the profession at the centre.”
De Gori says the FPA supports the raising of education and professional standards and says it is “particularly pleasing to see the government focusing on consumer protection through the enshrinement of the terms ‘financial planner’ and ‘adviser’”.
But he says “appropriate amendments are required to the transition timeframes to allow existing planners time to meet the new education standards”.
Up to speed
The roadshow will be an opportunity for the FPA to bring members up to speed on several key changes in the coming year.
“We have LIF, education and professional standards and a new PM, assistant treasurer and treasurer, with their own tax and super agendas,” De Gori says.
“The Financial System Inquiry report was also finalised over the year, and we expect to see some of the proposed changes starting to be developed into policy. LIF means many financial planning businesses will need to start transitioning their business models, and we still need to get some clarity from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on how LIF will be implemented.”
The FPA’s roadshow partner in 2016 is Challenger who, in conjunction with Aged Care Steps, will be discussing how regulatory changes affect retirement income streams and planning and how retirement income advice can help build a financial planning practice and add value for clients.
Professional Planner is the major media partner to the 2016 FPA National Roadshow.
