The financial planning industry is awash in an alphabet soup of accreditations, certifications, designations and qualifications. Whether you’re working in the financial planning businesses of CBA, NAB, AMP, WBC or ANZ, there’s a confusing array of CFP, FChFP, ADFP and MoFP out there. The relevance of these also often hinges on whether you’re part of … Read more
In recent years retirement income products have been a subject of the Cooper and Henry reviews. Now they are being addressed in the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) and the Government’s review of retirement income stream regulation. Further, appropriate retirement income regulatory design is very much driven by tax and social security expenditure settings, so the … Read more
In its submission to the Financial System Inquiry CHOICE is calling for the banning of all fees, commissions and remuneration that create a risk of conflict of interest for financial advisers. CHOICE argues these poor practices are at the heart of the steady stream of financial planning disasters including Storm Financial, TimberCorp, Commonwealth Bank and … Read more
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand today called on the Australian government to undertake an audit of its reviews to ensure the Financial System Inquiry is not lost in the myriad of existing inquiries and submissions. CLICK HERE FOR INFOGRAPHIC In its submission, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand says that the Inquiry touches on … Read more
The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) strongly supports moves by Australia’s largest financial planning groups to lift the education standards of financial planning professionals, calling it a positive step in the right direction for the profession and its clients. Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, said: “Australians have the right to know that when … Read more
Whilst the Government’s proposed Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) regulations will be retained following the recent failure of a disallowance motion in the Senate, leading national accounting and wealth advisory group Chan & Naylor is calling on all parties with influence to consult with the wider industry ahead of further near term changes in order to … Read more
The Actuaries Institute has made its second submission to the Financial System Inquiry. One key aspect of the submission is a call for the Government to consider establishing an independent agency similar to the NZ Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income. The Institute’s submission also notes that it is working with the FSI Secretariat to … Read more
When a dam wall bursts, what follows is usually chaos. The wall holding back financial planning standards and qualifications is showing some very major cracks. At the end of the day higher standards are higher standards, and any moves in that direction are to be applauded – anyone who has read Professional Planner over a … Read more
With a net promoter score of more than 50 and an average of 18 years’ financial planning experience, Australia’s “most trusted” advisers are an elite bunch. But the standard has been set, and it’s one that all financial planners can aspire to. A smartphone app and website promoting Australia’s most trusted financial planners has been … Read more
The bulk of AMP’s network of around 3,800 financial planners will welcome its move to mandate minimum standards of education, according to Rob Caprioli, AMP group executive of advice and banking. Under the program, all existing and new advisers must be designated as either a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) or Fellow Chartered Financial Practitioner (FChFP), … Read more
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has endorsed measures announced today by AMP relating to professional adviser development, following the release of AMP’s financial results and accompanying statements. AFA CEO Brad Fox said the measures align well with the AFA’s vision for professional standards and contain an appropriate mix of practical and theoretical pathways for … Read more
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has released two exposure drafts for comment in relation to the requirements for: – a course in Australian taxation law that is approved by the Board for tax (financial) advisers – a course in commercial law that is approved by the Board for tax (financial) advisers The exposure drafts set … Read more