FOFA a "time bomb"

The Government’s Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms may actually be a time bomb, according to Synchron’s independent chair Michael Harrison.

“The Government’s view is that FOFA is going to reform the industry, it’s going to improve trust and confidence that Australia’s retail investors have in financial planning,” he said.

“In my view it’s just another opportunity for good advisers. What we’ll see is those advisers who adapt well – and at Synchron we’re going to help them to adapt well – will really make some money out of this.”

Synchron is a risk-focused licensee, and currently about 80 per cent of its 195 authorised representatives are risk writers, according to the group’s director Don Trapnell.

Probably the most contentious part of FOFA is the proposed opt-in legislation, Harrison said.

Whether it happens or not really doesn’t matter, according to Harrison, because we live in a country where only 4 per cent of people are adequately insured.

“That creates 96 per cent of the population that is an opportunity for us,” he added. “Our job is to make sure that Synchron’s advisers prosper through this legislation.”

Synchron is teaching people that they can sell insurance and financial planning no matter what, and is aiming to continue to grow in numbers through the next regulatory phase, up to 280 by July 2013, he said.