Speaking on an upcoming episode of the ifa podcast, Philippa Hunt, director at AFSL Artemis Investments, highlighted the increased awareness of the potential impact of legislative changes on the mental health of advisers in the aftermath of the royal commission.
Reflecting on the post royal commission period, Ms Hunt recalled a meeting with the former financial services minister Jane Hume ahead of the 2019 federal election, during which Ms Hume reportedly told her that she would “ram through all the recommendations of the royal commission”.
“I never got the impression from her that she was willing to listen to anything that we had to say of the potential outcomes,” Ms Hunt said.
“Yes, you can ram through the legislation, tick all the boxes off, but the outcomes for the human beings in the industry was catastrophic.”
She added: “The mental health of the industry absolutely crashed over 2019 and 2020. We were proven right.”
According to Ms Hunt, current Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones is taking mental health concerns seriously and carefully considering the potential outcomes of any changes in legislation.
“He’s been aware of all of this on the way through. He was certainly aware of the mental health report in March last year before we actually formulated and got it done. He was sent a copy,” she said.
Last April, ifa exclusively released the results of a survey investigating the mental and emotional wellbeing of Australian financial advisers, conducted by Ms Hunt and Forte Asset Solutions founder and director Steve Prendeville.
The findings were alarming, with 80 per cent of participants conceding that their rate of stress had “significantly increased” since the royal commission and consequent government legislation, while 21 per cent said they had entertained thoughts of self-harm.
As such, Ms Hunt commended Minister Jones for not simply ticking off QAR recommendations but for taking a thorough approach and interrogating the outcomes.
“I would rather the guy take his time, think this through, consult with us as to the outcome for the client and us, and see what we can do to reduce compliance and the cost of advice,” Ms Hunt added.
While conducting the review, Ms Hunt said that reviewer Michele Levy was receptive to examining the effects on advisers’ mental health and was genuinely taken aback upon discovering the severity of the issue.
“I actually met up with her at the Self-Managed Super Fund conference last year on the Gold Coast and got her contact details, and I said, ‘Michelle, we’ve done the mental health survey and 85 per cent of advisers are severely overwhelmed, and their mental health has crashed. By the way, we’ve had 30 suicides’,” Ms Hunt said.
If you are suffering from depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts, or you’re worried about someone else and feel that urgent professional support is needed, contact your local doctor or one of the 24/7 crisis agencies below:
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
Lifeline: 13 11 14 https://www.lifeline.org.au/
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au
Licensees can and have to play a big role in this area. There have been cases where licensees have absolutely crucified adviser. Where an adviser who was TPD’s had his client based orphaned by the licensee by sending letters to product providers instead of transferring them under the sale agreements. Where advisers who were struggling with their mental health were used as cannon fodder / distractions to ASIC so the management could send something to ASIC. They did this so ASIC would assume that the management is monitoring the advisers and that they don’t need to do a full ASIC review of the firm. Licensees are in a position to pick up early if one of their advisers may be struggling and assist them.
Thank you Philippa Hunt, for being a strong vocal advocate for all of the advisers around Australia that have suffered significant mental challenges over the last 10 years plus. Whether the Govt. is listening this time around remains to be seen.