Financial press not a substitute for professional advice

Consuming financial news is not recommended as a substitute for obtaining professional financial advice, according to an answer from Fiducian during a Parliamentary hearing. 

Liberal Party member, Julian Simmonds, asked Drew Vaughan, Fiducian Portfolio Services chair, about the merit of following the financial press over finding a financial adviser. 

“For those without a financial adviser or ones that were deciding whether it was worth having a financial adviser, would you ever advise your members to seek their financial advice or upskill their financial literacy by reading online journalism?” Simmonds said. 

Vaughan said Fiducian encouraged members to obtain professional financial advice. 

“We think that’s the right one for them to achieve their long-term goals for their retirement,” Vaughan said. 

“I wouldn’t want to advise them about how they should go about it other than they should have a professional planner.” 

Simmonds said: “In your view, is reading the online press a substantial enough trade-off for not having a financial adviser or instead of [having] a financial adviser?” 

Vaughan said he thought that would be completely dependent on the people involved but wouldn’t recommend it. 

“I think it’s silly to say to someone they’d be better off reading the financial press versus obtaining advice from a professional,” Vaughan said. 

Simmonds noted the high level of financial literacy of Fiducian members and asked: “If they do have a higher level of financial literacy is it because they have engaged a financial adviser to assess their financial circumstances?” 

Vaughan said the organisation had not reached out to its 7,000 members to ask them about their financial literacy. 

“What I can state is that over 90% of members have a professional adviser associated with their account,” Vaughan said.