The final report of the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) has been broadly welcomed by the key bodies making up the financial services industry, with both the Financial Services Council (FSC) and the Financial Planning Association (FPA) being amongst those to endorse its broad policy direction.
FSC chief executive, John Brogden said the report laid the foundation for a strong and efficient financial and that his organisation particularly supported the emphasis on the need for greater competition and transparency in superannuation and for improvements to retirement incomes policy.
“The FSI has outlined sensible and strong reforms the majority of which we have advocated and support,” he said.
The Financial Planning Association was similarly positive about the report, with general manager, policy and conduct, Dante Degori particularly noting its support of degree qualifications for planners and its approach to relabelling general advice.
Pointing to the various sections of the report, Brogden said that the FSC was pleased to note that the FSI “strongly endorses the principal of a consumers’ right to choose their superannuation fund.
“The FSC will recommend to the Government that this be applied across the industry,” he said.
Brogden also noted that the FSI recommendation had supported public offer superannuation funds having a majority of independent directors and an independent chair.
He said the FSC also strongly supported the FSI’s recommendation that superannuation funds be required to select an income product for their default members at retirement.”
The Actuaries Institute was similarly support of the FSI’s focus on the post-retirement period, with its president, Daniel Smith saying the recommendations, if implemented, would ensure retirees had access to strategies protecting them against the many risks they bear, including liquidity, longevity and inflation.
“David Murray and his Committee have recognised the need for our superannuation system to shift focus from wealth accumulation to the development of retirement income streams that can last throughout a retiree’s life,” he said.
