Financial Planning fine without commissions

Financial planners are now an accepted part of the Australian superannuation industry, but there remains plenty of disagreement about how they should be paid, according to the latest IUS/Super Review survey.

The survey revealed an overwhelming 89.4 per cent of respondents believed planners were now important to the superannuation industry, but there was strong resistance to the role of commissions in the provision of planning.

Asked whether appropriate advice could be given to superannuation fund members in circumstances where planners were being paid by way of commissions, 70.8 per cent of respondents said ‘no’, while only 29.2 per cent believed commissions would have no impact.

Perhaps offsetting this negativity towards advisers was the survey’s finding that respondents were heavily in favour of superannuation fund members being allowed to use a portion of their super to pay for appropriate financial advice.

The survey found 80.7 per cent of respondents agreed that it would be appropriate for super fund members to use a portion of their super to pay for advice, while 19.3 per cent of respondents were opposed to the idea.

However, the survey respondents were very explicit in their objections to financial planners being allowed to charge commissions with respect to advice given covering the superannuation guarantee.

The survey found 80.4 per cent of respondents believed the Government should legislate to prevent financial planners charging commissions on superannuation guarantee advice, with just 19.6 per cent in favour of the idea.