Lifespan Financial Planning chief executive, Eugene Ardino, said he felt compelled to put pen to paper to highlight the issues plaguing the financial services community, arguing the outcome of the election would affect access to quality financial advice for years to come.
“We are at a critical crossroad, with an aging population, and the ‘great Australian wealth transfer’ on our doorstep, or potentially already here,” Ardino said.
“Access to quality financial advice has never been so important, however, if we do not seek significant change, many will not be able to access affordable advice from a professional financial adviser.”
The four key issues that Ardino saw as needing to be addressed after the election were:
The provision of legislative certainty and stability
“Ongoing change and upheaval has left licensees, and advisers battered and bruised,” Ardino said.
“In practice, this means a commitment to not increase compliance requirements for some time and where appropriate, to reduce some of these compliance requirements.”
The simplification of the advice process
Ardino argued in favour of simplifying file keeping requirements as he believed there were few other professions with such a high burden of proof to demonstrate the appropriateness of their advice.
He said Safe Harbour would need to be abolished, the Statements of Advice framework would need to be simplified and Financial Disclosure Statements would need to be scrapped.
The end of the perpetuation of mistrust in financial advisers
“We have held up our end of the bargain… and we need support from the government to rebuild consumer perception regarding the value of quality financial advice,” he said.
The continuation of certainty in the superannuation system
“The superannuation system must continue to serve its purpose in ensuring that Australians have security and financial independence in retirement. Superannuation legislation needs to be viewed with a long-term lens, and not as an election sweetener,” he said.
