‘Curious and confusing’: Allens reveals perspective on ‘qualified adviser’

Similar to the sentiments expressed by the majority of the financial advice community, Allens, where Michelle Levy holds a partnership, finds it "curious" and "potentially confusing" that the government would choose to label the new class of advisers as 'qualified advisers,' especially considering they will be held to a lower standard of education.

As discussions continue in the ongoing Treasury roundtables in Canberra, the industry is particularly interested in learning what term the government will choose for describing advice providers not deemed relevant and employed by major institutions.

In December, Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones announced that these providers would be referred to as qualified advisers, with the title requiring only a diploma. Unsurprisingly, financial advisers were outraged considering the painstaking effort they had undergone to attain their professional recognition.

While the Quality of Advice Reviewer (QAR), Levy, didn’t publicly declare her thoughts on the minister’s final response to her findings, her law firm, Allens, did at the time release a statement dissecting every detail.

On qualified adviser, Allens said: “We can't help but think that calling this new class of advisers 'qualified advisers' is a curious and possibly confusing aspect of the proposal given they will be subject to a lower standard of education compared to relevant providers”.

The law firm argued that while these qualified advisers would need to satisfy the education and training requirements as set by the AFS licensee on whose behalf they provide the advice, they would be of far lesser standing than the professional standards relevant providers are subject to.

“The exact level of education will be determined in time, but the government suggests that a diploma may be the right balance to be less onerous than the requirements for professional advisers,” Allens said.

ifa understands that in addition to determining the title for these institution-employed individuals, there is an ongoing debate in Canberra about the level of qualification they will be required to meet.

While members of government have insisted that this, alongside other elements of the QAR, will be adopted in Parliament this year, it is not yet known when the minister plans to release the draft law for consultation.

Last month at Senate estimates, Treasury officials found themselves at a loss when faced with inquiries from Liberal senator Andrew Bragg about the origin of the term “qualified adviser”.

Taking the lead in responding to the question, Andre Moore, assistant secretary of the advice and investment branch, stated that the term was a “decision of government”.

“A number of potential names had been raised by various stakeholders.”

When pressed by Bragg to identify these “stakeholders”, Moore responded, “I’d have to take that on notice, I don’t know.”