In a statement, Swinburne Online said the new adviser education standards will “send existing financial advisers back to school” and that the new courses will “help fill the academic gap in the financial services industry”.
“The pool of financial advisers in Australia is around 25,000, but only 32 per cent of them have any form of degree,” said Swinburne Online’s business and accounting director Andrew Vincent.
“In response to the urgency for a highly skilled work force, Swinburne Online is offering accredited degrees in business and accounting.”
Mr Vincent said making the courses available online meant advisers currently in the workforce would be able to undertake studies more easily.
“The online model is highly accessible to those already working and will provide a flexible learning environment and produce graduates best positioned to meet the demands of the industry,” he said.
What use is a course accredited by Chartered Accountants Australia for financial advisers? FASEA accreditation is the only thing that counts for financial advisers and FASEA has made it clear that anything other than a recently completed financial planning degree is worthless.
One could argue this is akin to false advertising on their behalf. Money grabbing already, and some people think FASEA was not hijacked by academics. MLC and the likes couldn’t even put together a product/press release this quick after changes in super laws. Does the FPA look stupid now, gifting these vultures an FPEC list of “new” courses? ..standard disclaimer: I’m in support of lifting education standards blah blah blah… positive..blah blah.
25,000 advisers but only 32% have a degree? Have those numbers been audited by Chartered Accountants Australia?
Perhaps they are including real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and authors. Although those people profit from providing financial advice, education requirements only apply to licensed advisers. Unlicensed advisers can do and say whatever they like with complete impunity.
Pretty easy to find out from a search of the ASIC FAR register
Wrong. The register only lists the date, name and provider. There is no category called ‘any form of degree’, nor is there anywhere to list if the qualification is a diploma, bachelor degree, grad dip etc. The only way to check would be to laboriously trawl through every one of the 25,000 entries and interpret the ‘name’, taking into account a myriad of acronyms and various descriptions of degrees. I think it is right call their statistic into question and ask them to justify it.
Exactly Ben.. If FASEA is also using this data to justify there decisions then this is also correct. This figure is an insult and needs correct.
On first glance I can’t see how any of these courses in this press release would meet FASEA core competencies area. However, they do have a Bachelor of Business majoring in Financial planning, but I already have a Bachelor of Business more than 10 years old so nothing here for me. Overall a weak solution for experienced advisers put forward by an almost broke Australian University aiming at 18 year old school leavers. The University sector is not geared up for this.
Nothing on there for risk only advisers.
Give up. There is no such thing anymore. The ability and prevalence of funding insurance from super means that risk cannot be treated in isolation from retirement, savings, tax, and estate planning issues.
Exactly, you still need to consider the other areas of financial planning so need to be educated like the rest. There shouldn’t be an exemptions. If you only practice a certain part of law you still need a law degree.
Exactly. Pathetic!
I agree with the sentiments expressed here 110% but he/she does have a point. Nothing on there for experienced super, investment, or other advisers… especially for those already with Degree or Diploma requirements. I’m sure IF he enrolls the 2000 word assignment on “”Discuss the Social Security environment in Australia” will be highly insightful and relevant. Perhaps if Universities were not the sole gatekeepers to this legislative reforms and more private institutional learning facilities were represented on the FASEA panel we may have very relevant and educational courses on offer.