AFA clarifies view on general advice
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has restated its wariness about the general advice exemption at a Senate hearing.
Presenting a case for changes to the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms at the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, the AFA stressed the exemption could need “fine tuning” and should not apply to personal financial advisers.
“We see this applying to non-financial adviser staff providing general advice only on their employer’s products - typically in a bank setting,” the AFA’s CEO Brad Fox said.
“The intent is that this is not a return to commissions for advisers,” he added.
The AFA also used to opportunity to argue for a resolution to grandfathering, which Fox said has stifled market competitiveness and ultimately disadvantaged the client.
“We think the debate has overlooked a number of common situations that could be detrimental to clients because of grandfathering restrictions,” Fox said. “We need to see them resolved and this should be of highest priority.”
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