The executive general manager of advice at Australian Unity, Matt Brown, agrees with Michelle Levy’s recent assertion that advice is episodic and therefore needs to be catered to by a broader range of providers.
In an opinion piece published on his LinkedIn page, Mr Brown applauded Ms Levy’s overarching focus on creating an environment for providers to deliver “high quality and affordable financial advice” that ultimately “contributes to the wellbeing of more Australians”.
“Michelle Levy acknowledged that regardless of how many more financial advisers we need, we will never have enough to support every single Australian. But we can’t let the size of this challenge take away from the urgency of getting on with the very reform that will make financial advice more affordable and accessible,” Mr Brown said.
“Without reform, our industry is fighting a losing battle that runs the risk of jeopardising the wellbeing of a whole generation of Australians,” he continued.
As such, he urged Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones to keep the government’s commitment to reforming the advice regulatory framework in 2023.
“As we look to 2023, now is the time for Minister Jones to listen to the combined and largely united voices of our industry, implement recommendations of Levy’s Quality of Advice Review in a timely manner, and prioritise the introduction of reforms that enable advice to reach more Australians more affordably,” Mr Brown said.
Reflecting on the current state of the advice industry, Mr Brown said that despite the loss of some 10,000 advisers in recent years, he remained “energised” by the “dedication and resilience” of the remaining advisers.
Citing the “admirable efforts to bolster our profession” exhibited by many in the industry, he opined that without the QAR, “high-quality, appropriate financial advice will remain out of reach to the Australians who need it most”.
“The lack of advice is already having a tangible detrimental effect on Australian households. According to an analysis conducted by independent firm NMG for the FSC, more than 1 million Australians are now underinsured as a result of strict regulations on financial advice,” Mr Brown cautioned.
“The recommendations outlined in Michelle Levy’s Quality of Advice Review report will be an important step in addressing these issues.”
Commenting on Ms Levy’s latest proposals paper, Mr Brown said it “points to the prospect of lifting the regulatory gaze away from unnecessary processes, documents, and disclosures and more toward enforcing a duty for each provider to deliver personal advice that is good or ‘fit for purpose’ and will reasonably benefit the client”.
“When Levy’s Quality of Advice Review report is handed down on 16 December 2022, eyes across the industry and the community will be on the federal government and Financial Services Minister for their response. For the benefit of Australian consumers, it will be critical that the government takes action as quickly as prudently possible, and does not sit on the proposed reforms,” he concluded.
A lot of people who aren’t advisers commenting on what rules should apply to advisers. Most commentary is coming from product sales people such as the above. Would think the FPA and AFA would be asking them to stay out of it, given they are the same people who got us here in the first place!
I notice the the term ‘providers’ is increasingly outplacing the term ‘advisers’. Says it all.
And they wonder why advice is out of reach…
Based on how the QAR is playing out, the big banks and super funds will be ruling the world again. With the help of Michelle Levy they will have convinced the average Australian that ongoing financial advice is worthless as it should just be episodic.
Why would a client seek ongoing advice costing $5-10k a year when they can rock up to their favourite banker and have them set up a direct debit into the banks managed funds.
Of course ASIC will think this is good advice, until September 2034, when it is shown that the banks were charging 2% fees for these managed funds and they consistently underperformed other investments…there will then be a Royal Commission into the scandal that erupts, banks will be forced to repay a few billion in fees and the Gov’t will come in and hire Michelle Levy to come up with more red tape.
Advice is currently out of reach for “normal Australian’s”. This fiasco of a review won’t change that.
Levy must be popular in the corporate world?
Repeat after me – Remove the unnecessary red tape. Seriously – how difficult is it ?
Good Advice means nothing if it’s conflicted. Standard 3 – FASEA code of ethics. No superannuation or bank can recommend their product. So what is happening?
They aren’t covered by FASEA Code of Ethics, only advisers giving Personal Advice are.