FPA election race hots up

Competition for a limited number of spots on the Financial Planning Association (FPA) board is expected to be fierce, with 15 candidates confirming last week they will run at the association’s upcoming election.

At a time when the FPA and the entire financial planning profession is under a cloud over soft dollar payments and conflicts of interest, the 15 candidates will all be vying for just four board positions.

And the ballot is already shaping as a contest between the big institutional dealer groups and advisers who are standing on a platform of independence.

The list of candidates includes four existing board members whose terms have expired — Corinna Dieters of Accent Investment Services in Melbourne; Brisbane-based Leonie Henry of Henry and Co Financial Planning; Bridges Financial Services’ Colin Scully; and Sarah Brennan, managing partner with Brennan Partners.

New candidates for the board spots include South Australian advisers John Lipkiewicz and Brian Nankivell, Western Australian planners Lindsay McLeod and Christopher Craggs, as well as advisers Phillip Thompson from Canberra, Robert Taggart from NSW, Victorian Peter O’Toole and Queenslander David Holloway.

Also standing are Sydney-based consultant Christine Bowen, Aon Financial Planning and Protection managing director Greg Dunger, and Commonwealth Bank executive general manager of financial planning Brett Himbury.

Thompson, a principal of Canberra-based independent fee-for-service financial planning group Rise Financial, told Money Management he was standing to promote non-commission-based remuneration.

“I believe fee-for-service is the way going forward,” Thompson says.

“A lot of advisers think the way I do that haven’t necessarily had a voice or think they’ve had any influence on the FPA in the past,” he says.

In Himbury, Thompson will be standing against the head of one of the biggest institutionally controlled networks of advisers in the country.

“The FPA is doing a much better job now at representing the diverse groups within the industry, but we also have a responsibility to make more of a contribution to the industry than we have in the past,” Himbury says.

“We can all run our separate business models and compete against each other, but part of our objective is to improve consumre confidence,” he says.

Voting starts this week with ballot boxes closing on October 20. The outcome will be announced at the FPA annual general meeting on November 30.

The AGM will also see former Sydney City Councillor Kathryn Greiner take over from AMP’s Steve Helmich as the first independent chair of the FPA.