The Federal Government needs to produce independent evidence demonstrating how its Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) proposals will benefit consumers without impeding access to advice and without increasing red tape, according to Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) chief executive, Richard Klipin (pictured).
Klipin said his organisation wanted to know how FOFA would stop the sort of product failures that had prompted serial inquiries into the financial planning industry from happening again.
AFA president Brad Fox also weighed into the argument claiming that when the Government came to power it had promised evidence-based policy decisions.
“Where is the evidence that opt-in and a ban on commissions within superannuation address the problems?” he asked.
Fox said the Government had not yet modelled a case for how the FOFA changes would benefit consumers.
He said the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Bill Shorten had claimed the financial planning industry had not convinced him with respect to their arguments against opt-in and the banning of commissions on life/risk within superannuation.
“Well, he hasn’t convinced us either,” Fox said.
Both Klipin and Fox exhorted financial planners to continue lobbying politicians across the country to extract key changes to the FOFA proposals.
