The SMSF Association has welcomed the release of an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) consultation paper on the provision of limited financial advice and will provide the regulator with methods for how this can be applied to the SMSF sector.
Highlighting ASIC’s “Consultation Paper 332 Promoting access to affordable advice for consumers” seeking feedback from industry participants regarding the barriers to affordable personal advice, the association said a key issue for SMSF advisers was the ability to provide limited advice.
SMSF Association chief executive John Maroney said: “It’s encouraging that ASIC is committing to consult with the industry on this issue of ensuring advisers can provide quality personal advice to consumers that is affordable.
“The association has long been concerned about the regulatory burden involved in providing advice, so this initiative provides an opportunity to find solutions that are affordable and workable for advisers and consumers without sacrificing the integrity of the advice.
“We believe this process is our opportunity to address the failed ‘limited licence’ regime and redesign a way for our members to provide scaled advice scoped purely for consumers with an SMSF.”
Noting its intention to present a “compelling case” to ASIC for the need for scaled advice within the SMSF sector, the association said it would commence collating member feedback and undertake roundtables and focus groups over the coming months.
“We want to outline to ASIC what the real SMSF barriers are and what needs to be done to solve them. We will be in touch with members to discuss this process soon,” Maroney added.
Earlier this year, the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority said advisers operating under a limited Australian financial services licence could still play a role in the advisory landscape despite concerns its new code of conduct requirements were prohibitive for these types of licensees.
