Gilbert was appointed Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) chief executive in 2002 following four years as the association’s deputy chief executive and last year handed over the reins to former New South Wales opposition leader John Brogden.
Gilbert says he saw IFSA achieve many things, having served the association since its inception.
“Getting the Managed Investments Act through parliament and the security it provided for Australian investors was a massive feat for the industry, and not only that it has stood the test of two major recessions,” he says.
He says financial services reform was also a great outcome despite some criticism, with dispute resolution schemes for consumers, international tax reforms and the rollout of the Lifewise Campaign also on his list of career achievements.
Other industry wins that benefited superannuants in the past 20 years include the Better Superannuation Scheme, which then federal treasurer Peter Costello implemented, co-contributions and super guarantee reform, he says.
“These events were groundbreaking and great for the Australian economy,” he says.
Despite the highlights, however, it was unfortunate events were overshadowed by question marks about the industry and a lack of consumer confidence, he says.
“The Henry review into taxation is still under covers and discussions about scaling back super tax concessions could have seriously adverse effects on the nation’s savings,” he says.
“There has also been a lot of sledging of financial planners and I think it is time people took note of the work being done by the sector.”
There is a lot of uncertainty around the industry at present and the decision makers in Canberra need to remove the question marks and provide the industry with assurance, he says.
“We’ve had 18 months of grief. We need to move into a more positive playing field and only good decisions to come out of Canberra will allow the current state of the game to change,” he says.
“The competitive dynamics of the industry must also be allowed to prosper, however, the indicators are currently not looking too favourable.
“We have quite a number of decisions that are going to take place in due course that will or will not allow this to happen.”
He says he would also like to see more women in senior management positions and regrets this is not the case.
“It is a real issue. The industry is very male dominated and some of the company boards around town really need to pay more lip service to the inclusion of women in higher positions,” he says.
He says he has tried to bring a lot to the industry from his time as a teacher.
“As a teacher you learn to care about people. You learn about different needs and I think I have tried to bring a lot of that thinking to the financial services sector,” he says.
