In a recorded message to the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) Conference in Bangkok, the minister addressed the decision-making process of the Albanese government in relation to financial services.
“From the government’s perspective, this is an important time for the industry. There are lots of challenges, but also some great opportunities to bring about some positive change,” Mr Jones said.
“And if I look at the advice industry today, I think many people would agree that the industry isn’t working well for advisers. And it isn’t working well for consumers. We don’t have enough advisers, and we don’t have enough sources of information and the information that consumers often receive is hard for them to understand.
“That makes me take a step back and say, what are we trying to achieve here?”
He added that the answer to that question is that the government is “solely focused on the outcomes for consumers”.
“I’m not doing this for advisers, or institutions or manufacturers, as important as all of those groups are. The Albanese government is solely focused on the needs of consumers. And that’s the prism through which we’re seeing everything,” Mr Jones said.
“And in financial advice, the greatest area of need for consumers is around their retirement incomes. That’s not to say that consumers don’t have other needs for advice. Of course, they do. But we have over 5 million Australians either at or approaching retirement.
“Thanks to the success of superannuation, the average Australian is now retiring with over $200,000 in their super, that’s a significant sum of money. And consumers need help, little advice, and information to make sure it goes as far as possible to give them a dignified retirement to help.
“It’s critical that we have advisers and getting more advisers into the industry.”
In June, the Financial Services Minister introduced legislation to the Parliament to enact the experience pathway. He told the AIOFP members in Bangkok that he is “confident that it will pass through Parliament soon”.
“This is a pragmatic solution, which will keep good advisers in the industry. I’m also determined to improve the entry points for new advisers,” Mr Jones said.
“While I’m committed to the professionalisation of the advice industry, the current pathway, a legacy of FASEA, is not up to standard. I want to ensure the education standards make financial advice and a career, a career of choice and lead to high-quality advisers coming into the profession.”
AIOFP executive director Peter Johnston said: “We are also pleased that the minister expects the Education Pathway ‘10-year rule’ will pass through both houses at the next sitting of Parliament.
“When we first presented a case for this proposed direction to the minister in 2020, we pointed out that the advice community will be losing thousands of highly experienced advisers and that will ultimately impact heavily on consumers who need advice.”
Mr Jones also said there are areas of red tape where the government is “hindering, not helping access to advice”, pointing specifically to the process of providing financial advice.
“Why are statements of advice so unwieldy? Why do advisers need to ask clients over and over and over and over again, for things that could be done once? These all add to the cost of providing advice, without any improvement to consumer protection or consumer outcomes,” he said.
“To me, these are the easy and obvious things that we can do.”
Also looking at the availability of advice, Mr Jones said that even doubling the number of advisers would not close the advice gap in the economy.
“Many consumers have simple advice needs, which could be provided by institutions with appropriate guardrails. For more complex needs,” he said.
“We must have quality advisers, lots of them, who can provide fit-for-purpose advice to their clients. This will be good for Australians, good for advisers, and good for the country as a whole.”
Jones’ pre-election ” hot mess ” is rapidly turning into a cold,congealed stodge.
Well lets all Not pay the ASIC levy, sadly we have no one fighting for Advisers, we need an Adviser to get into politics to steer things in the right direction for us all. AIOFP is trying but i feel they are a voice in the wilderness
Where is the FAAA?
Busy calling up all advisers who haven’t renewed their membership as yet. That’s their priority.
Read the piece in the AFR at the weekend about AustralianSuper’s ambitions regarding the retirement needs of Australians and their solution. The end game was always as they have mapped it out.
Superannuation and financial advice – this is the domain of industry funds and no one else.
This is being delivered by this govt.
So a record $20b budget surplus, but the ASIC Levy triples? It’s a rort.
The increased ASIC Levy is also inflationary. But according to the government, it’s entirely the RBA’s responsibility to control inflation. And when the RBA does try to do that job on its own, with the only tool they have (interest rates), the government will publicly criticise the RBA governor and sack him. Albanese is in the same class as Erdogan and Trump.
If doctors had to work under the same level of bad regulation financial advisers do, they would only be able to see a fraction of the patient numbers. Australia would need about 5 times the number of doctors we currently have.
What would be the best solution to this hypothetical problem? Allow drug company sales reps to act as doctors? Significantly reduce education standards and encourage third rate course factories to churn out more “doctors”? Or fix the bad regulation so we didn’t have a doctor shortage in the first place?
Australia does not have a significant adviser shortage. It has a significant “advice gap” caused by bad regulation. The solution is obvious.
Jones is still talking about “the easy and obvious things that we can do”, just like he was in the election campaign. But he has completely failed to implement any of those easy and obvious things.
The only change to financial advice regulation implemented under Jones has been a tripling of the ASIC Levy.
So, other than retirement planning advice, ” many consumers have simple advice needs ” ?????
That’s convenient for the Industry Super funds then isn’t it !!
Try telling Stephen Jones that an 8 partner Law firm ranging in ages from 35 to 70 require a complex succession plan and equity buy out strategy funded by both insurance for the unforeseen and unplanned partner exit and non-insurance strategy for accumulation in a sinking fund for a planned and timed partner exit including significant and watertight legal documentation to ensure the financial protection of family, dependants, estate or disabled partners is a simple piece of advice.
He knows nothing about this business and is simply dumbing it all down in order to suit and appease the gravy train of his Trade Union comrades.
It is a total & utter disappointment.
Next election – simple, in with the new, out with the old – Goodbye Jones, Goodbye Albo, had way too much of your BS already, just like your predecessor MP Jane Hume and MP Frydenburg.
All that study. For what? Now, I have to compete with a chat-bot from a super fund.
Jonsey, exactly how much BS Red Tape costly government rubbish have you reduced for Advisers ? = NONE !!!!
But you have managed to TRIPLE ASIC ADVISORY LEVY COSTS.
Jones talks about helping Advisers but doesn’t act to help just hinder, as that suits his agenda.
He continually positions ALL his efforts for his best buddies Industry Super to use backpacker stacked call centres of uneducated, unqualified, unlicensed, unregulated Sales jockeys that will be dressed up as Advisers.
And the ISA sales force will be paid for via HIDDEN COMMISSIONS charged to All ISA members when 90% will pay HIDDEN COMMISSIONS FOR NO SERVICE.
Real Advisers to get stitched up yet again.
Jones is worried about consumer? Yet, he wants to let under qualified, conflicted call centre staff from a product provider, provide advice to the consumers he is “desperately worried” about.
Everyone knows that Stephen Jones’ and the ALP’s focus is solely on their union super fund mates. And is actively lowering adviser standards so that these product providers can employ people to provide conflicted advice.
And they’ve increased the ASIC levy!! So how are we supposed to reduce the cost of advice when our costs are increasing everywhere??
Jones is full of it, any Association buying his verbal BS is asleep, frankly I am as worried about this bloke as much as I was with the last out of touch Liberal mob.
Sorry but I’m not buying it. If Jones was focused on consumers, the first job of his 12 months ago would have been to scrap the ASIC Levy and fix the FDS. It’s not rocket science.
Its good to see that jones is more concerned about consumers than actually helping adviser’s to give that advice
‘Solely focused’ on re-election