Matthew Rowe's letter to Financial Planning Association members


The chairman of the Financial Planning Association, Matthew Rowe, recently sent an email to all members of the FPA accusing certain sections of the trade media of "selective reporting" and acting with "clear bias" against members of the FPA and with "standards of journalistic practice and ethics" which needed to be held to account.
Rowe's full email is published below and Money Management's reply is published here.
Dear Member,
You may be aware that Money Management is inviting industry participants to share their views on various industry bodies in a survey covering the FPA, AFA, AIOFP and BFFPG.
Each of these bodies have different roles to play in our community. Certain trade media outlets have reported with clear bias and selective reporting of facts against the FPA and its members in recent times.
Such selective reporting is designed to create division and controversy, rather than report on fact, and without the right of reply. People feel strongly about this issue. We each have a right to express such opinions about our trade media which we also hold accountable to appropriate standards of journalistic practice and ethics.
As a Professional Association, this type of unstructured research and the loose conclusions that will be drawn from it, is not befitting of a community working to high standards of rigour and professionalism.
The results of this survey will not be constructive and facilitate the progression of our industry into a respected profession. That is why we recommend you do not participate in the Money Management poll.
We thank you for your continuing support of the FPA.
Kind regards,
Matthew Rowe, Chair
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