Independent financial planners will not only survive in the post-Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) environment, they will thrive, according to a panel of independents at a Money Management Platforms and Wraps Seminar in Sydney yesterday.
The panelists broadly rejected the notion that the FOFA restrictions to the payment of volume rebates and the increased dominance of the major banks and institutions would spell the end of the small independents.
The panel, made up of Virtue and Partners managing partner Tony Virtue, MyAdviser managing director Philippa Sheehan, Bailey Roberts Group head Ian Bailey, Centric Wealth head of products Kieran Canavan and Fiducian managing director Indy Singh, broadly rejected the suggestion that the changes with respect to volume rebates would prove highly detrimental.
And while acknowledging that some consolidation had occurred within the planning industry, with some groups moving under the umbrellas of the major banks, they argued that this was not the whole picture.
An earlier panel reflecting the views of the major platforms also discussed the implications of FOFA for the ongoing relationship between platforms and dealer groups, and concluded that much had already been achieved.
BT Financial Group head of platforms Kelly Power said that while some elements of the grandfathering arrangements remained to be fleshed out, they appeared to be broadly headed in the right direction.
Both the platforms panel and the financial adviser panel acknowledged the importance of strong competition between platforms to maintain and expand their distribution, with the advisers welcoming the strength of that competition and the benefits it ultimately delivered in terms of lower costs.
However there was general agreement that there was only very limited scope for new platform entrants unless they brought with them an existing distribution base.
