Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology Jane Hume has shared her belief that there are some compelling reasons to remain optimistic about the future of the financial advice industry despite the negative impact certain challenging developments for the sector have had recently.
“I am optimistic about the future development of the financial advice industry. There are right now 900 students enrolled in FASEA (Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority)-approved bachelor degrees and over 190 professional-year candidates have joined the industry to date,” Hume told delegates at the Association of Financial Advisers national conference, Vision 2020, yesterday.
“As the industry continues to professionalise, I am confident that these numbers will only grow further.
“I know many of you have expressed some anxiety about the FASEA exam, but I think it’s fair to say that those fears have been allayed as those exams have progressed.”
According to Hume, the government is unconcerned about the number of advisers exiting the industry as this phenomenon was to be expected when the new education requirements were introduced.
Instead, she noted the new move toward professionalism is driving renewed interest in the advice sector.
“I think that we are seeing some real green shoots here. There are a lot of people in financial services more broadly now that are seeing the professionalisation of the financial advice industry and are wanting to pivot to a different career,” she said.
“[They are looking for] a different opportunity – something that allows them a little bit more independence, a little bit more control over their own lives, but at the same time allows them to add some value and give back to the community that they’d been working in too.
“So I think that we’ll actually see an influx of new entrants, and not necessarily just young ones either, [but] people with really interesting experiences and professional experiences as well.”
