The government’s Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reform is just another opportunity for good financial advisers to take advantage of and profit from the potential regulatory changes, according to Synchron.
“Is FOFA change or actually a time bomb? The government’s view is that FOFA is going to inform and the industry is going to improve the trust and confidence that Australian retail investors have in financial planning,” Synchron independent chair Michael Harrison told attendees at an industry luncheon yesterday.
“In my view it’s just another opportunity for good advisers and I think that what we’ll see is that those advisers who adapt well, and at Synchron we’re going to help them to adapt well, will make some money out of this.”
While Harrison said the most contentious part of FOFA was the proposed opt-in legislation, he noted advisers should also view that potential reform as an opportunity.
“Whether [opt-in] will actually happen or not I don’t know, but if it does or doesn’t, it doesn’t really matter because we’re in an industry and a country where only 4 per cent of people are adequately insured and that creates 96 per cent of the population as an opportunity for us – an opportunity no matter what,” he said.
“There is no-one I know, by the way, that wants to buy insurance so let’s be clear about that, and I’m not talking about financial planning because slightly more people want to buy a financial plan but they just don’t want to pay for it.
“But in terms of insurance, no-one wants to buy insurance. So our job is to make sure our advisers can actually prosper through this legislation.”
