Success has a thousand fathers and failure is an orphan.
It follows that virtually every financial services lobby group has claimed to have played at least some role in influencing the Government’s policy approach in 2006.
However, the Investmentand Financial Services Association (IFSA), as the primary organisation representing the Australian funds management industry, was arguably once again at the forefront of representing the interests of the financial services industry to the Federal Government this year.
Having spent around 30 years living and working in Canberra, IFSA chief executive Richard Gilbert is regarded as being among the most experienced lobbyists currently representing the financial services industry.
But while IFSA emerged as possibly the most influential and active voice in Canberra in both 2004 and 2005 with respect to policy implementation such as the superannuation co-contributions scheme, superannuation splitting and the formulation of Term Allocated Pensions, 2006 has seemed a little less frenetic for the organisation.
That said, IFSA has remained active, being at the forefront of efforts to counter the so-called ‘compare the pair’ advertising campaign launched by the industry superannuation funds, with Gilbert speaking strongly about the need to sell the message about the value of advice.
Gilbert’s sentiments about the value of advice were then reflected in IFSA’s submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the structure and operation of the superannuation industry.
The submission argued the Government should endorse the value of advice, particularly in relation to choice of fund and member investment choice, reinforce the disclosure basis of existing laws by facilitating effective disclosure and provide clear guidance to the regulator on the regulatory intent of the law.
While fundamentally focused on representing the interests of its funds management constituency, the membership of IFSA has grown to de facto encompass a broad cross-section of the financial services sector, including a number of dealer groups.
— Mike Taylor
