The federal government’s plan to introduce a new class of lower-educated financial advisers is an insult to advisers who have achieved mandated qualifications to continue to provide advice, as well as those forced out of the sector, according to the Institute of Financial Professionals Australia (IFPA).
IFPA head of superannuation and financial services Natasha Panagis said the government’s recently announced plan to allow diploma-level-educated ‘qualified advisers’ to be employed by financial institutions ran counter to previous moves to improve the advice profession and was an affront to those who had worked to change it.
“The term ‘qualified adviser’ is a grossly misleading label and should be given another name so consumers are not confused and know they are not dealing with a professional financial adviser, but instead dealing with a product or a sales representative of a financial institution or a superannuation fund or an insurance company,” Panagis said during a recent webinar.
“This announcement is quite insulting to qualified advisers who undertook the required education to gain the necessary qualifications in order to be recognised by the public as a true professional.
“It is even a bigger blow to those advisers who left the industry due to the education requirements that were introduced, not to mention those that took their own lives or where their families broke down due to the pressure they felt at the time.”
She called on the government to reconsider the name it plans on using for the new class of advisers, noting it would create confusion and terms to describe those who provide advice were marked out under law.
“Not only will these changes undo a lot of the hard work over the years to get the industry recognised as a profession, it’s likely to confuse consumers in thinking that someone is a qualified adviser even though they are much less qualified than a fully qualified professional financial adviser,” she said.
“Having two definitions of adviser will also lead to another level of complexity which the general public will struggle to understand.
“The terms ‘financial adviser’ and ‘financial planner’ are protected terms and enshrined in legislation – they should not be watered down by unqualified advisers that will be allowed to provide advice, albeit on simple topics.
“We urge the government to rethink this term so that consumers know that a truly qualified adviser is someone who has a university degree or postgraduate studies, has undertaken industry courses and holds recognised designations and is also required to undertake continuous professional development.”
https://smsmagazine.com.au/news/2023/12/07/govt-to-create-new-advice-class/
