Brogden questions ASIC adviser role

Speaking at an ASIC event in Sydney last week, FSC chief executive John Brogden said it would be “a very dangerous world” for a government body to be recommending one person over the other.

“It is not for government to rate people,” Mr Brogden said.

“It’s for government to say ‘you’re in or you’re out’,” he said.

Mr Brogden, who was speaking at the ASIC Forum in Sydney last week, said we seem to be more comfortable providing professional status for advisers.

“There are professional attainments, and of course ASIC and the government are in ongoing discussions about further education as well,” he said, adding that investors must all take responsibility for their own financial decisions.

“We have to at some stage realise that people are responsible for their own decisions within certain parameters that are set by certain regulation and legislation,” he said.

“We have to also be very respectful of the fact that people are allowed to have choice in the financial decisions that they make.”