According to SMSF Association CEO John Maroney, simplifying the regulatory framework for financial advice will be essential to Australia’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
In a statement, Maroney commended the Government’s measures to “alleviate the economic fallout caused by this pandemic,” but said cutting advice red tape should also be on the table, with a view to making the service more accessible and affordable.
“The financial advice sector will play a crucial role in helping many Australians and businesses recover from this economic crisis,” Maroney said, “so it’s more important than ever that the Government commits to reform.”
He continued: “The recovery period now provides an opportunity to rethink and design the professional advice framework. This includes the provision of ‘strategic advice’ that is decoupled from products and ‘scaled advice’ that could allow broader access to advice for consumers about how to structure their financial affairs.”
Making these changes, Maroney explained, would widen the availability of advice because “consumers find that advice comes in an ‘all or nothing’ package, demonstrated by the fact temporary relief was required just to ensure someone simply wanting advice on taking money out of super under the COVID-19 relief measures did not have to pay for a comprehensive Statement of Advice that is both time-consuming and costly.”
Maroney’s comments echo FPA CEO Dante De Gori’s interview in the latest season of Future Talk, where he said that there needs to be more scope for advisers to address a “niche market” without offering the “full scale of services a comprehensive financial planner does,” and that “the regulations and licensing regime should allow that.”
You can watch De Gori’s Future Talk videos here.
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