Life/risk advisers still questioning Trowbridge recommendations
A number of life/risk advisers have been circulating copies of the Financial Services Council's (FSC's) submission to the Trowbridge Review of Retail Life Insurance Advice and pointing to similarities in its wording and that of the final Trowbridge recommendations.
The copies of the submission, which remained largely confidential ahead of the release of the final recommendations, follow on from a strong denial by the chairman of the Life Insurance Advice Working Group, John Trowbridge, that there was any late change to the inquiry mandate allowing him to be the sole author of the report.
In a letter to Money Management, Trowbridge said there had never been any agreement that the report would contain a consensus view.
"It was always going to be my view informed by submissions and input from insurers, advisers, adviser groups, consumer representatives, regulators and others. That was clear in the Interim Report and nothing has changed since," his letter said.
However advisers have continued to point to the FSC submission and the similarities in the wording used in the final report, particularly around the proposed initial adviser service payment.
While the FSC submission has been circulated by some advisers, others have been urged to ask the major life/risk insurance companies to reveal the content of any submissions they provided to the Working Group which remained confidential to Trowbridge as chairman.
This was first suggested by Centrepoint Alliance chief executive, John de Zwart, in an e-mail to advisers in which he suggested that if insurers declined to make their submissions public it might raise questions about whether they supported independent advisers.
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