Speaking at the Association of Financial Advisers’ (AFA) conference on Tuesday, Mr Longo laid out the corporate regulator’s goals moving forward, including an adviser hub on its website, but said financial planners must also play a part.
“This has to be a two-way street,” Mr Longo said.
“So I’d like to leave you with three suggestions. One, you can continue to focus on the interests of your clients. Two, you can continue to cultivate and advance your industry’s value proposition. Three, you can comply with the spirit of the new laws.”
Mr Longo said he is “optimistic” about the future of the advice sector despite the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and extended lockdowns around Australia and pinpointed upcoming regulations to be introduced on next month, including changes to information sharing, breach reporting and hawking.
One widely praised inclusion in the upcoming regulations is the removal of the requirement for financial advisers to report “nil complaints”.
“Financial advice is crucial — even more so during the current pandemic,” Mr Longo continued.
“And while I know that the introduction of new professional standards has caused some angst among the adviser community, I am confident that these changes will be beneficial to advisers and clients.
“So as we look towards the future, the lines of communication must remain open in both directions.
“Not just for the financial health of Australians, but for the benefit of the industry as a whole.”
Appearing on the ifa Show earlier this month, Coastal Advice Group CEO Daniel Brown said collaboration between the industry and regulators is essential, as there are “politicians making decisions about things that they have no idea”.
However, Mr Brown added that those in the industry also have the opportunity to “step up”.
“There’s potentially 2 million customers from banks that no longer have an adviser, and if the adviser numbers are down and at least half of them are looking for a new home, if you can be found and trusted… there’s a great opportunity in front of us,” he said.
“So, for me, I’m maybe too optimistic sometimes, but I’m a big believer that financial advice and getting it to more Australians is going to be beneficial to us in the future without the banks involved, and perhaps then ASIC [will] take the foot off our throats a bit more.”
Listen to the full podcast with Mr Brown here.
I’d like to know just WHO highly praised this “Nil Complaints”?!
Mr Longo I’d like you and ASIC to adopt these three suggestions :
1 – You can start reducing red tape which is harming our focus on the interests of our clients.
2 – You can start reducing the ASIC levy which is not helping our industry’s value proposition.
3 – You can start meeting with advisers and our clients to learn first hand what is important in giving and receiving licensed financial advice.
The spirit of the new laws is to drive the few financial planners that still exist to suicide or financial ruin. Don’t worry Joe, you will get there if you keep trying hard. Jane Hume has your back to make sure you get there. Imagine the bonus and the next job you will get at a bank when they re-enter financial planning under general advice and employ lots of unlicensed finance coaches.
Well gee Joe, perhaps you could review some of the banning orders your Delegates have handed out to over 70 Advisers effectively ending their careers, livelihoods, reputations and even families all because they didn’t cross a “t”, or sent a statement late that no one wanted in the first place (I kid you not I know a fellow this happened to), or followed the orders/direction of their Dealer Group (I know another that this happened to also), or had a different opinion on how to construct a portfolio or calculate insurances than an underskilled, inexperienced ASIC analyst/delegate and whose clients all benefited (yes I know of one in this situation also) under the slogan “Why not litigate”. That could be a good start. And secondly perhaps ASK CLIENTS/CONSUMERS what they actually want from their Advisers and how they want it instead of assuming that the key to affordable, timely, effective advice and consumer protection is MORE BLOODY PAPERWORK.
It may be a two-way street, but there is a very large steamroller taking up both lanes heading towards me.
And it’s license plate says “A51C”
100% the Regulators at ASIC and the Pollies love to talk recently about helping Advisers and Affordable Advice.
But every month that ends up in More BS Regs, More BS Red Tape and more Useless Compliance costs we have to charge clients .
They do exactly opposite what they say.
ASIC & Pollies stop telling complete and utter LIES !!!!!
So in short it is up to advisers to fix ASIC and the government’s mess? How about ASIC spend less time on a website to give guidance on the massive level of regulation which will assist no one and actually do some work to reduce the level of regulation.
Hey Sleepy Joe….let me remind of you just one figure in response to your insulting comment – 1.4%.
In case you aren’t aware – that the number of AFCA complaints labelled against the advisers you’re saying need to as you put it…”One, you can continue to focus on the interests of your clients. Two, you can continue to cultivate and advance your industry’s value proposition. Three, you can comply with the spirit of the new laws.”
We are not the problem! So, stop making out like we are and using us as your daily example of how advisers should be behave.
Clearly no mirrors in your offices!
ASIC seems to be overstaffed with bureaucrats that have too much time on their hands and nothing better to do than devise new forms of wasteful paperwork.
We need less regulation so that people who desperately need financial advice can access it.
The danger is that ASIC kills the host that feeds it.
Why did Mr Longo’s ASIC executives refuse to provide Parliament with the 400+ submission re simplifying the compliance malaise our industry has been forced in to? Maybe Joe should be starting to “focus on the interests” of getting this industry back to a functional level!!
Unfortunately it seems the new ASIC chair Joe Longo has no idea on the industry problems and will continue to make things worse.
Meanwhile, what is the biggest adviser association in the country doing? Sipping cups of tea with their mates in the big banks no doubt
The industry is appallingly over regulated which is ultimately not in the publics best interest. What is not to understand ?
Mr Longo I’d like you and ASIC to adopt these three suggestions :
1 – You can start reducing red tape which is harming our focus on the interests of our clients.
2 – You can start reducing the ASIC levy which is not helping our industry’s value proposition.
3 – You can start meeting with advisers and our clients to learn first hand what is important in giving and receiving licensed financial advice.
In summary, Mr Longo, stop talking and do something in line with your talk!
Joe hasn’t been here for long so he must be out of the loop of all the times we gave constructive feedback for how they are messing everything up. Don’t worry I’m sure someone in the building will show him the “not-a-bin” they put all of the submissions into previously.