FOFA phase-in helps groups develop scaled offerings
With the mandatory start date of the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms deferred to 1 July 2013, dealer groups will have more time to develop a scaled advice offering that works for them, a technology provider says.
While larger institutions may have to review their systems as a result of the deadline change, the corporate superannuation market in particular has long been utilising financial planning tools as a new way to engage with members, Provisio Technologies director Cameron O'Sullivan said.
He said the legislative deadline has not been a trigger for this.
"The big change will be that, at the moment, scaled advice has predominantly been a not-for-profit arrangement, or it has been used in new call centres that have been set up to deliver it. I think you'll see advisers hopefully embracing it a lot more," he said.
O'Sullivan was quick to point out that what's going to give advisers more cause for caution is the lack of clarity around how best interest is going to operate in relation to scaled advice provisions.
He said this lack of clarity was preventing large dealer groups adding scaled advice solutions to their business until the regulations come into effect.
"The deadline gives the larger adviser networks another 12 months to work out exactly what they want to do. It's going to give them another year to build something," O'Sullivan said.
Despite this, O'Sullivan believes those dealer groups that have moved early into the scaled advice space may require only a small adjustment to their systems once FOFA comes into effect.
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