Education distinction needed for comprehensive and limited advisers
Comprehensive financial advisers should have a Bachelor of Financial Planning degree and limited advisers should only complete a subset of the degree, Mentor Education believes.
The firm's managing director, Mark Sinclair, said the government needs to legislate around a clear distinction between comprehensive and limited financial advisers.
Sinclair said accountants, life insurance, and other advisers seeking to provide personal advice in self-managed superannuation funds, and who limit their advice to retail clients should be exempt from the requirement to do a whole degree.
"At an absolute minimum these limited financial advisers should have completed that subset of a Bachelor of Financial Planning degree comprising of two foundation subjects, with ethics being mandatory, plus a minimum three core subjects focusing on their area of interest or specialisation," he said.
"On the other hand, those advisers who want to provide full financial plans and holistic advice should be required by law to do a standalone 24-subject Bachelor of Financial Planning degree."
Sinclair noted depending on existing qualifications and experience, existing financial planners are likely to qualify for credits/exemptions for a great deal of the subjects required by the new legislation.
He said a financial planning degree did not exist yet, it would not take long for the relevant material to be developed and approved.
"Certainly a five-year transition period for the development of such materials would suffice," Sinclair said.
Recommended for you
With the highest number of candidates in a year sitting the latest financial advice exam, a surge of new entrants are expected in the coming weeks, according to Wealth Data.
AMP has launched a range of five diversified index managed portfolios on its North investment platform, targeting a younger client demographic.
An NSW adviser, who advised over 120 clients after falsifying her financial advice exam results, has been permanently banned by ASIC.
ASIC has released the results from the latest financial adviser exam, the first to be run since changes to its structure earlier this year.