With a raft of new regulations relating to subjects such as information sharing and hawking set to come into effect next month, Eugene Ardino said the government is “walking back things that are pretty obvious and/or unnecessary” while appearing on the latest episode of the ifa Show.
While he noted the recent ASIC levy relief will help the industry, Mr Ardino said changes like the FASEA exam extension and financial document services were simply errors that needed to be corrected.
“Advisers and licensees, while we are in this legislation expansion phase, all we can do is put on more resources to meet those requirements and pass on those costs to consumers,” Mr Ardino said.
“What else are we supposed to do? It’s the government who is saying they’re serious about making advice more accessible. Well, they need to do things. They need to stop saying that and actually do serious things, drastic things to achieve that; otherwise, we just keep going down this path.”
Mr Ardino said that Lifespan, like all advice businesses in Australia, is trying to structure its business within the rules as best as possible, but that will come at a cost to its service.
“If those rules dictate that we can only service people who can afford to pay $5,000, $10,000 a year in fees, then that’s what it is,” he said.
“But the government saying they don’t want it to go down that path — well, they need to do things.”
Listen to the full podcast here.
Mr Ardino is up for his third straight win in the Dealer Group Executive of the Year category at this year’s ifa Excellence Awards, and he is also slated for Industry Thought Leader of the Year.
I agree with what he is saying but nothing will happen, as has been shown in the past decade or so.
They’re making it more accessible by making it easier for Australians to get advice on what BitCoin to buy via Tik Tok..some really good and a lifetime of advice, in those 15 second clips…who needs genuine face to face sound and valuable advice anyway.
Don’t stress, if you feel like your clients are at risk or that your target market is being mined by tik tok… then you’re doing it wrong. Let them have at it I say. Then when it all goes bad people will turn to more reputable advice.
The Federal Liberal government has shown itself to be a lover of red-tape and unnecessary compliance. It’s really embarrassing to see how far they have fallen from their stated ‘Beliefs’ of small government.
Hope Eugene has had an audience with Josh and Jane and made these comments to their face to see their reaction?
All good that we are reading but wont achieve much if that’s all.