The Financial Planning Association’s (FPA’s) insistence on financial planners obtaining undergraduate qualifications may be a reflection of it having previously allowed sub-par educational standards, according the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF).
The institute’s general manager of education and knowledge management, Clim Pacheco, said that while the FPA’s push for higher levels of training and education were welcome, the general standard of education offerings for the financial planning industry were inadequate.
“Much of the blame for the poor standards of knowledge and skills in the financial planning industry must be laid at the feet of the employers of financial planners who have willingly allowed new staff to undertake qualifications that do not leave them with enough knowledge and skills to appropriately give advice,” he said.
Pacheco claimed that by calling for undergraduate qualifications across the board, the planning industry was ignoring the practical aspects of recruitment and training faced by modern financial planning businesses.
“Setting the bar so high will not fix the issue,” he said. “Higher standards of quality in education must be demanded at all levels of qualifications from compliance through to PhD.”
Pacheco said that while ANZIIF felt there was a place for highly qualified Masters level financial advisers, quality comprehensive compliance and diploma level training was also a vital element for the industry if it was to thrive and succeed.
However, he said that he was pleased to note quick and cheap providers were finally being seen for what they are — “financially motivated businesses that saw an opportunity for a quick profit and built education products based on competing for price and convenience without concern for the end result".
“This has resulted in too many financial planners being churned out with ‘compliance’ and ‘qualifications’ without having the knowledge and skills required to give appropriate advice,” Pacheco said.
