Advice group Godfrey Pembroke is comfortable with government plans to require advisers to periodically renew agreements with clients, but is concerned about the administration of the proposal, its general manager has said.
Under the so-called opt-in agreement, financial advisers and planners would be required by law to get clients to regularly sign fresh agreements, or opt in anew, to the advice relationship.
Financial Services and Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten has proposed agreements be renewed every two years, but the draft legislation, part of Shorten's Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms, has yet to be released.
"We're comfortable with opt-in," Godfrey Pembroke general manager Tom Reddacliff told InvestorDaily.
Reddacliff said Godfrey Pembroke advisers had about 150 clients each, smaller than the national average of 450 clients per adviser.
"Because we have three times fewer the average number of clients per adviser, we can work with opt-in," he said.
"My main focus, though, is on the administration of opt-in. What I wouldn't want to see is a separate piece of paper that we have to send out.
"What I would be seeking is that something that could dovetail with the ongoing advice process or the use of technology could come into it as well.
"If that's the case, it will make it much smoother transitioning to opt-in."
He said Godfrey Pembroke had said as much in a submission to the government during the FOFA consultation period.
"That is one piece of feedback we've definitely given," he said.
Godfrey Pembroke, owned by National Australia Bank, has about 180 advisers in 60 locations. It had $5 billion under advice, Reddacliff said.
