FPA releases SOA guide
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has released a practical guide on constructing Statements of Advice (SOAs) to its members in a bid to minimise the administrative burden on advisers.
Chief executive Kerrie Kelly said the guide was developed in response to FPA member requests for a guide that would assist them in tailoring SOAs to individual client circumstances.
“The breadth of financial products available today simply does not allow planners to construct a 'one-size-fits-all’ SOA,” Kelly said.
The ‘Guide to the Development of Effective Statements of Advice’ is described as a ‘comprehensive and easy-to-use reference document to help members meet their SOA obligations’.
Kelly said the information in the guide is “communicated clearly and effectively, with useful tips included to establish best practice standards”.
According to Kelly the key to writing a good SOA is to consider what an individual client needs to know to make an informed decision.
“This means taking into account a client's level of financial experience and financial 'literacy' and tailoring the SOA's detail, language and even format appropriately,” she said.
The FPA intends to make the guide a “living document”, which will be amended as circumstances change and in response to feedback from members, Kelly added.
“I encourage members to use the guide, and let us know how it can be further improved.”
Meanwhile, FPA SOA Taskforce chair, Corinna Dieters, said the FPA was “continuing to talk to ASIC [the Australian Securities and Investments Commission] about streamlining the SOA regime in order to meet the regulator's needs without imposing an undue burden on financial planners or increasing the cost of financial planning services.
“We appreciate that ASIC has taken a 'let's sort this out approach', and we look forward to continuing our dialogue to reach agreement on a number of outstanding matters,” Dieters said.
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