Financial planners with degree qualifications and who are Certified Financial Planners should not be needlessly penalised under the new arrangements being pursued by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA), according to the Financial Planning Association (FPA).
Acknowledging that the FPA’s phones had been running hot in the wake of last week’s announcement by FASEA of proposed mandatory education pathways, FPA chief executive, Dante de Gori said while his organisation had been a strong advocate for the imposition of a minimum degree qualification under the new regime, he believed FASEA needed to be pursuing transitioning planners towards obtaining a degree rather than penalising those who already had a degree.
Sitting at the heart of the FPA’s concern is the degree of focus on the Financial Planning Education Council (FPEC) guidelines which de Gori said did not even exist when many current financial planners actually obtained their degrees.
“Just because a degree is not on the FPEC list does not mean it should not be counted,” he said, adding that matters should not be driven by the universities.
De Gori said the FPA would using the consultation period attaching to the latest FASEA announcement on mandatory education pathways to argue its point and to lobby for the appropriate recognition of degrees.
He said the FPA believed that completion of the work necessary to obtain the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, when taken together with a degree qualification, should be capable of providing a pathway to FASEA recognition.
The FPA has not been alone in fielding a high level of planner inquiries, with education provider, Kaplan, also confirming high levels of contact.
