Australia’s financial planning industry is moving towards a period of consolidation and away from debates on conflicts and commissions, according to FPA chief executive Jo-Anne Bloch.
“I think we will move beyond the debates of conflicts and commissions and see an increasing number of fee-based financial planners and business models, as more and more younger planners move into the profession and some of the older planners, whose business models are based on commissions, sell out and move on,” Bloch told InvestorDaily.
Bloch’s comments come as the association launches a new code of ethics that it hopes will streamline its nine sets of codes, rules and principles.
The new code was announced at yesterday’s FPA National Conference on the Gold Coast and includes a new principle called Client First.
“Putting your client first when providing advice is straightforward, measurable, and does not conflict in any way with the requirements of Corporations Law,” Bloch said.
Australia will be the first of 22 affiliate countries in the Financial Planning Standards Board community to implement this code.
“In Australia, we have decided to apply it across our membership because it is very difficult to have a code of ethics for one group of members and a code of ethics for another. It makes sense that all financial planners abide by this code,” she said.
Commenting on her vision for the future of the industry, Bloch said the main challenge facing advisers was for financial planners to seek community recognition as fully-fledged professionals.
“While financial planners have come out generally well, everyone in financial services has taken a hit on the trust side and so maintaining or building that trust will be a challenge,” she said.
