Industry Fund Services (IFS) division Industry Fund Financial Planning (IFFP) has predicted a widening of financial advice within superannuation on the back of the Ripoll inquiry recommendation that initial advice be made tax deductible.
"There is no question demand is going up," IFS marketing and distribution national manager Andrew Whiley told Investor Weekly.
"We are seeing funds come back to ask us how to develop from simple face-to-face financial planning to more telephone and web-based planning services."
Member uncertainty about the future of superannuation policy and a desire to have a clear investment strategy were reasons for the moves, Whiley said.
He also said IFFP was currently in discussion with around five industry funds about providing either face-to-face or telephone advice for members.
"These range from very large industry funds down to small to medium funds," he said.
However, he said that while IFFP welcomed the Ripoll inquiry recommendation, more information might come to light once the Cooper and Henry reviews handed down their findings.
"This may not be a recommendation that is immediately picked up by the government from an economic point of view, so we have to be realistic about that," he said.
"Both the Henry and Cooper reviews are dealing with taxation questions, within a national sense and around superannuation, and we hope this recommendation will be given further consideration within the scope of the reviews."
Until this point, IFFP will not being making any changes to its fee-for-service model.
"Were very happy that finally the rest of the financial planning sector has caught up with what we've been doing for 10 years," Whiley said.
