In a statement released yesterday, FPA chief executive Mark Rantall said financial advisers should take advantage of the opportunity presented to their businesses by the amendments to FOFA.
“We have seen a predictable reaction to these amendments from sectors of the superannuation product industry, using fear and misinformation to once again depict financial planners in a negative light,” Mr Rantall said.
“Our position on these regulatory matters is quite clear: consumer protection laws remain intact and at ‘world’s best’ standard.
“Combined with this robust legal foundation, professional financial planners who have individually subscribed to a binding code of professional practice not only have nothing to fear, they have everything to gain in this new environment.”
Mr Rantall said while “others stand for product”, the FPA and is members “stand for advice and advice outcomes that make a lasting, positive difference in the lives of all Australians”.
I would have thought Jim Stackpool has been around long enough to grasp the real issues with advice and its application. The below comments from Jim are of someone who has been sucked in the by the side show of the last couple of years. Very little of FOFA process at its core has been about the advice, rather a fight for market share and power for the IFSN. Individual, independent thinking and client focused Advisers are the enemy of IFSN. As for Apes 230 you have to be kidding surely. If you cant see how that piece of policy completely missed the point it dosnt surprise me you are left to make points in this form of media. The marketing and lobbying has been successful and can claim another follower as evidenced below.
Did I not see where the FPA & ISN smoked a peace pipe before Xmas. Was it not going to be lovvy dovey
Get real FPA-these people are fundamentalists. They don’t stop until they are in total control. To them its an idealogical war !!!
Pull them on NOW, while you have a ( possibly ) friendly Government
One has to wonder at the logic of it all. So they admit that he is TPD, but he’s only ‘half’ unable ever to work again. Perhaps there’s a case for a few ISN clients to claim on their term life insurance, especially if they happen to be feeling a little ‘half-dead’ today…
Steve (below) must be a director of an ISN making those comments. I had a customer who was a member of an ISF and he became TPD. After 19 months of legal battles fighting the industry super fund trying to claim and after losing his house and the shirt off his back, the ISN finally came to the party and paid him 50% of the unitised cover amount which didn’t even cover his legal fees.
In 18 years of processing life insurance claims I have never seen this happen with a retail insurer.
The old ISF saying of “from little things big things grow” certainly happened here, the problem started as a little one and grew into big problem where the poor bar**ed lost everything then got 50% of the insurance cover he had paid for over the past 10 years!
As usual the industry funds are making comments without any basis. when they can hold their head up and act in the same way and offer equal service as the planning profession- they can bark. Service-NO, insurance and claims -big NO, the list goes on. Just a waste of air time and money. No need to reply because they are not worth the effort.
Mark, can’t agree that this ‘opportunity’ that the amendments to FOFA provide means that FPA members ‘stand for advice’. These amendments mean that the FOFA episode was possibly a circus and definitely a confusing distraction like y2k was. Standing for advice would be bravely separating product from advice, not relying upon legal definitions of ‘best interest’. Standing for advice would be recognise to MAINTAIN world best standard we are expecting more from leaders like FPA and whilst not perfect FoFA’s original intent was better than status quo. This decision atop the Australian Professional and Ethical Standards Board revoke of APES230 show 2013 as a year of lost opportunities to provide Australian’s with a positive difference.
Ahhhh the FPA. Consistently forgetting who they should be supporting & making it hard to operate for their members. You really are a waste of space FPA. I won’t even waste my energy explaining why!