Financial Planning Association (FPA) Australia chair David Sharpe has described the proposed merger with the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) as a fundamental shift for the industry body and has specified two areas where having a single organisation will make a difference.
“A merger give us a much stronger policy and advocacy voice to government, which is absolutely critical. This alone is reason enough to make the merger work,” Sharpe told FPA members in a video he posted on social media.
“It also gives us a much stronger voice to and for consumers on the value of financial advice.”
To this end, he stipulated what the association requires from its members to ensure the merger of the two financial planning organisations goes ahead.
“Really importantly, we don’t just want your support, we are going to need your vote. For this merger to get up we’re going to need 75 per cent of those who vote to support the motion,” he noted.
“But to be completely blunt, we want thousands and thousands of our members voting because this is going to be a fundamental shift to our association.
“[So] we want your yes vote or at least a proxy to myself the chair.”
Member voting regarding the move will open in early February and according to Sharpe, the FPA believes it has given individuals sufficient time to register any feedback they have about the merger and the opportunity to ask any questions they have about the process.
To assist members gain a better understanding of the steps involved, the FPA has already provided them with a merger summary and a draft constitution and will be hosting a webinar on 25 January on the issue as well.
In addition, details as to how practitioners can register their vote on the matter will be released next month.
The FPA and AFA announced the proposed merger in September 2022.
