Industry hurt by infighting

Internecine squabbling on the part of groups of financial planners is serving to undermine the broader interests of the financial planning industry, according to the chief executive of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), Jo-Anne Bloch.

On the same day Bloch led the industry in bitterly criticising the intra-fund advice arrangements sanctioned by the Federal Government, she agreed that the interests of financial planners were being undermined by internal squabbling and jealousies.

“The key messages our industry is trying to deliver to the Government on policy are being undermined by some of the squabbling that occurs, some of which is motivated by jealousy and self-interest,” she said.

Bloch said she believed there was a need for those operating in the financial planning industry to accept its structure and diversity and speak with a single voice.

“Except on the issue of the importance of the value of advice, our industry is not speaking with that single voice,” she said.

The chief executive of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA), Richard Klipin, agreed that the efforts of the financial planning industry had proved ineffective when compared with those of the industry funds.

“There is no question that the industry funds have done better in maintaining their key messages — I think it is something which they learn early in terms of prosecuting industrial relations agendas,” Klipin said.

“There certainly needs to be more clarity of voice on the part of our industry if we are to get our messages across.”

The fractured nature of the financial planning industry became evident when the FPA announced its proposals for the phasing out of commissions-based advice, and was reinforced by the Federal Government’s ultimate decision with respect to the provision of intra-fund advice by superannuation funds.

However, the Federal Government’s intra-fund advice decision actually generated a united approach from the AFA and the FPA, with both organisations strongly condemning the move and agreeing that it would undermine the quality and consistency of advice.

The intra-fund advice arrangements also drew a clear line in the sand between the interests of the financial advice lobby and the organisations representing superannuation funds and master trusts, with the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia and the Investment and Financial Services Association both welcoming the Government’s move.