The financial advice industry has thus far been indifferent towards specialisations such as SMSF accreditation, but there is an opportunity for reform in light of the proposed new education standards.
Financial Planning Association (FPA) chief executive Dante De Gori told selfmanagedsuper currently advisers can opt to undertake accredited SMSF or aged-care training, but not every adviser has the same base knowledge, except for Regulatory Guide 146.
“At the moment people become specialists as soon as they’re authorised and some people are specialists because of their authorisation limitations,” De Gori said.
“To give you an example, some people might be a specialist and call themselves a superannuation specialist and that’s because they’re only authorised to give advice on super. And even though they may have just only been authorised, they’re an SMSF specialist.”
Every adviser will have to be degree qualified under the new education framework proposed by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA), but specialisations do not fall under the authority’s remit.
De Gori suggested it would be appropriate for the industry to examine how specialisations should function once every adviser attains uniform base knowledge.
He proposed industry participants should be an adviser first and should undertake specialist training after a period of time, similar to the medical profession.
The industry should collaborate to form a process for advisers who aspire to specialise in a particular field of advice. They should qualify to become an adviser first and undertake additional training to become a specialist only after gaining work experience as a general financial adviser.
“In some places it’s done right: like, for example, some licensees managed this well in that you come on first, after years of experience you can then go and do your accreditation in SMSF and you become a specialist that way,” De Gori said.
“I think the opportunity is once FASEA has finalised the base and minimum standard, then there’s an opportunity for the profession to build on that.”
The FPA recently lodged its submission with FASEA in response to its consultation paper on the proposed guidance on education pathways for all financial advisers.
In the submission, the financial planning peak body recommended one category for existing financial advisers who hold a degree that is not a financial planning/advice qualification. Under this category, the existing adviser must have completed a bachelor degree plus either a Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning/Advice or an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning or an eight unit Diploma in Financial Planning or achieved the certified financial planner designation.
Existing advisers must also complete a bridging course on the FASEA code of ethics and legal obligations at Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level 7.
The FPA proposed two education pathways for new advisers: an approved degree (AQF7) or a non-approved degree plus a Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning/Advice.
