FPA reveals PI deal
Deen Sanders
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has revealed the details of its new professional indemnity (PI) insurance service for members.
International broking firm Jardine Lloyd Thompson (LJT) has won the tender to offer PI insurance to FPA members to allow them to meet their Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Regulatory Guide 126 (RG 126) obligations.
JLT will be the FPA’s full service single broker, with a team of underwriters providing policy coverage.
FPA general manager of professionalism Deen Sanders said while one priority of the service is to allow members to meet the RG 126 requirements, the FPA and JLT plan to “shape it into much more than that”.
According to the FPA, its policy will acknowledge “the difference in professionalism and obligations between an FPA member and the rest of the marketplace”.
The FPA said the PI broking service will also provide members with access to “the best underwriters in the domestic and international marketplace” offering the “best possible outcomes and premiums for their business”.
JLT is part of the largest insurance broking group in Europe, and is the third largest broker in Australia.
The FPA said: “JLT’s role includes ensuring that the best underwriting markets domestically and internationally participate.”
The firm will offer a specialised service team for FPA members, with administration, communication and claims management services dedicated to financial planning.
“FPA members are already obliged to hold minimum PI insurance as one of the conditions of their membership, but things have changed since Westpoint, RG 126 and [the Financial Industry Complaints Service] increase in monetary limits,” Sanders said.
“We believe our relationship with Jardine Lloyd Thompson will create greater consistency and certainty for members and we anticipate significant change in the market as a result.”
Recommended for you
ASIC has launched court proceedings against the responsible entity of three managed investment schemes with around 600 retail investors.
There is a gap in the market for Australian advisers to help individuals with succession planning as the country has been noted by Capital Group for being overly “hands off” around inheritances.
ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of an advice firm associated with Shield and First Guardian collapses, and permanently banned its responsible manager.
Having peaked at more than 40 per cent growth since the first M&A bid, Insignia Financial shares have returned to earth six months later as the company awaits a final decision from CC Capital.
