Financial advisers have felt rushed by the process surrounding the Trowbridge recommendations and are looking for breathing room on some of the major issues.
That is the bottom line assessment of delegates who attended a Money Management/Association of Financial Advisers breakfast forum dealing with the Trowbridge final report recommendations and addressed by the report author, John Trowbridge.
Asked whether they felt rushed by the processes, a majority of the more than 130 people in the room indicated that that was the case.
Importantly, however, Trowbridge acknowledged that the changes announced by Centrepoint Alliance last week, around the removal of upfront commissions on life insurance and shifting to hybrid and level commission, represented a step in the right direction.
This led to AFA chief executive, Brad Fox, to suggest that a uniform move to such a position across the industry might provide some breathing room via which the industry could pursue a unified position.
The breakfast was told that the Government wanted to see progress on the Trowbridge recommendations, not least because of its desire to create legislative clarity around the Financial Systems Inquiry findings.
Further announcements are expected this week as more dealer groups implement changes around the removal of upfront commissions.
