Is the LIF a disincentive to new planners?
The Life Insurance Framework (LIF) may act as a disincentive to university graduates entering the financial services industry as life/risk advisers, according to the results of a survey of life insurance executives conducted by technology provider DST and the Financial Services Council (FSC).
What is more, the research suggests this will lead to a significant ageing of the advisers focusing on life/risk.
The survey, conducted during the FSC’s recent Life Insurance Conference in Sydney, pointed to concern among respondents that the pool of life/risk advisers will be become less diverse as a result of the new regulatory regime.
“There is a strong sense that LIF will not attract university graduates in the same way as professions such as legal and accounting,” the survey analysis said and pointed to the fact that this was a view shared by 71 per cent of respondents.
It said that, partially as a result of this, 54 per cent of polled executives believed that approximately half of all advisers would be over the age of 50 by 2025, with a further 23 per cent believing that approximately 30 per cent of advisers would be over 50.
The survey analysis claimed this lack of diversity represented a challenge for the industry in circumstances where consumer needs were becoming more diverse.
“This underlines the importance the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority’s mapping of adviser qualification pathways and ethics,” the analysis said.
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