Speaking to ifa, Phillips Family Office founder and ifa’s Holistic Adviser of the Year winner Michael Phillips said increasing the requirements for education doesn’t factor in individual adviser experience, noting that he will be 71 before he’s fully qualified to start his career, despite 45 years as an adviser.
“How ridiculous is that? This is where there’s incompetence with the government,” he said.
Mr Phillips said he was “concerned good people will leave [the industry] or fade away” as a result of the new standards, and that the new qualifications don’t teach many of the skills gained through experience.
“You can’t put an old head on young shoulders sometimes, and sticking to the rule book and being very sterile doesn’t always get the best results,” he said.
Mr Phillips compared the potential impact of the education standards to a business removing tiers of its management structure on advice from consultants, leaving no-one familiar with the business’ operations behind to guide the remaining staff.
Last month, Mentor Education managing director Mark Sinclair said anxiety over the incoming education standards was unfounded and becoming adequately qualified would not be as difficult as many thought, while AFA executive Nick Hakes told ifa such stress was understandable and the industry should come together to support one another.
Yet another example of our industry, regulators and politcians “looking busy” for aesthetic reasons whilst again avoiding the real issues.
Well said Michael, and interestingly the politicians and Gov officials making these ludicrous decisions (and others) aren’t even qualified to be making them, themselves. They’re largely without formal degrees and especially idiotic is that a politician doesnt have to have as a mandatory requirement any prior qualification or experience in the portfolio they have been given!!
Before starting on us, where our impact is minimal, what about the clowns who steer Australia’s destiny???
Typical BS. NONE of the changes that have been made over the past years will ever stop another Storm from happening which was the main reason stated for the overhaul! Just because you have a degree doesn’t mean you will not do wrong things. Lets reduce incomes that will stop bad advice! What crap! Yes in the next 12 months I would expect at least 10-15% of GOOD advisers will leave the industry and the bad will stay on. i am getting out as well as I am sick of the media portraying me as a liar, cheat and money grabber! The big end of town will remain in power as they can absorb the reductions in income, the extra compliance and so on. Choice will be limited and in time the same thing as we recently saw with CBA, NAB, ANZ, Westpac and others will happen again. Aw well as i said I will stand on the sidelines now and watch Bill Shorten, his union cronies and the industry super funds destroy a very valued and required independent source of advice for our younger Australians.
There is a requirement for “grandfather” provisions in the legislation. The idea that someone has 45 years experience, but is “unqualified” is quite ridiculous.
Yes, industry experience does have a huge impact on the advice given. But the mix between higher education and experience allows the adviser to give more technical advice. I have met alot of advisers with industry experience of 20+ years with a ADFP or DFP, they don’t understand the complex issues and don’t have the ability to as they do not know any better.
I personally think that the education standards should be brought in sooner for current advisers. Advisers are dealing with the life savings of their clients. Advisers complaining that this is “too hard” need a reality check as the younger advisers are doing bachelors and masters, all this “experience” should make it a walk in the park? 🙂
Couldn’t agree more. The worst advisers I have come across sometimes have the most experience (obviously they arent all bad). They still just flog a super rollover and risk like the ‘good old days’ and sit on a DFP or grandfathered CFP qualification but dont understand anything remotely complex. If the changes get rid of these people we will be closer to a profession.
Yeah SD totally agree. The only people disliking the hard truth are those that are just sitting on the DFP & Cornflake box CFP.
and it seems the only ones wanting it so badly are the underperforming theologists out there, who are largely employees because they don’t have the nuts to start their own business, or if they do, arent that successful because they are too technical and don’t have all the other skills to be successful.
I would beg to differ, yes a lot of people just holding DFP’s have businesses but they are also from a different era. Let’s be honest these guys don’t like change as is obvious with all the posts about the new education standards, they also don’t like changing their reviews, or the way they deliver services.. it’s the younger advisers who are implementing the change that the industry needs. And as for having the nuts to own a business – it’s not about having the nuts to own a business – a lot of advises do, it’s more about knowing that you have enough technical & practical experience (yes both). Honestly why is it so hard to ask advisers to be educated, you are dealing with books of $100m + on a course you can do over a weekend (scary as it is I’m not kidding about the last bit).
The other people wanting it badly are the vast majority of consumers who wouldn’t trust anyone without at least a degree to be making complex decisions about their money. Just as they wouldn’t trust a doctor, dentist, vet or lawyer without a degree. This has been the expectation of consumers since long before the FPA handed out cornflakes CFPs. It is why the FPA betrayed consumers and undermined its own credibility in doing so, and continues to betray consumers and the majority of its members by renewing grandfathered CFPs without requiring any upgrade of education.
Love it when some ‘educated’ moron uses ‘consumers’ as a reason. Um, you mean those same ‘consumers’ who are currently clients of the advisers who don’t have a masters or bach, are quite happy and implicity trust them, and in 99% of the time don’t even ask about qualifications? Love your use of research & data btw, ‘vast majority’ learn that at uni?
So does that make it right? If you already have an adviser is he or she technically able to make the best recommendations and advice for you? And yes ‘consumers’ are what we are here for, our clients should no longer be pushed in a direction such as white labelled financial products just because it is easier for an adviser who isn’t ‘technically’ able to construct an appropriate portfolio.