Richard Gilbert
The chief executive of the Investment and Financial Services Association, Richard Gilbert, has warned the industry funds movement against “conducting a jihad” against financial planners in circumstances where he said there is clear evidence they are assisting in improving retirement savings.
Speaking as part of industry body leaders at the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds in Brisbane, Gilbert produced the latest data from Plan for Life to support his claim that those people receiving financial advice were more likely to contribute extra to their superannuation savings than those who did not.
Gilbert was speaking as part of a panel that included the chief executive of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, Pauline Vamos, the chief executive of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Fund Trustees, Fiona Reynolds, and Industry Funds chief David Whitely.
Commenting on the role of planners in superannuation and in response to claims by Whitely that the Government ought legislate to ensure superannuation fund members got the “best advice”, Gilbert said financial advisers had not done as badly as some might suggest.
“We did not get white shoed salesmen on the street when choice (of superannuation fund) came in, we did not get life agents flogging products to people that were totally inappropriate and we had a very low level of disputation in this country on advice,” he said.
Gilbert said he was pleased that industry funds were going to pay out of their product for advice because he saw it as “really critical to members”.
However, backing up his claims with respect to the value of advice, Gilbert said he had figures that showed the retail funds took $17 billion in superannuation dollars in a normal year while the industry funds took $17.4 billion.
“The SG [super guarantee] component of the retail fund is $5 billion, the SG component for industry funds is $17.2 billion,” Gilbert said.
“The salary sacrifice for retail funds is $12 billion, driven by advisers, meaning that two-thirds of people who pay for advice put in extra money.”
He said the industry funds component with respect to salary sacrifice was $100 million.
Gilbert’s contention with respect to the salary sacrifice component by industry funds was questioned by a number of delegates, but he referred them to the latest Plan for Life data.
