The Boutique Financial Planning Principles Group (BFPPG) has thanked the Financial Planning Association (FPA) for "achieving an outcome on Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) which moves us all a step closer to recognition of financial planning as a profession".
In a letter to the chairman of the FPA, Matthew Rowe, the president of the BFPPG, Claude Santucci, said the outcomes from FOFA explained by the FPA had been better than expected.
"Although there is more to do to achieve legislative clarity, the first steps are encouraging," the BFPPG letter said.
It said the FPA had conducted its negotiations in a professional manner, "focusing on the issues and promoting the best outcomes for all stakeholders – particularly the consuming public. We expected nothing less".
"As you know, the BFPPG has always held the view that financial planning cannot become a true profession until the public understands the clear distinction between financial planning and product distribution," the BFPPG letter said.
"Full disclosure of AFSL ownership is the essential step towards that understanding. The other important step is the restriction of the term ‘financial planner’ to those professionals genuinely providing a financial planning service. The FPA have achieved a milestone in having the minister recognise this."
The BFPPG letter said membership of the FPA continued to be a prerequisite for membership of the BFPPG and the FPA’s role in the FOFA negotiations "further strengthens that important connection".
