The federal government’s lack of clarity over proposed changes to financial services regulation has left a number of financial planning executives frustrated, forcing some to place business development plans on hold.
Shadforth chief executive Tony Fenning said the government’s proposed changes tabled in its Future of Financial Advice (FFA) reform paper has prompted the firm to place its listing plans on hold temporarily.
“We’re waiting on clarification of what the rules in the brave new world are to be and we’re a little bit frustrated by the lack of clarity around that,” Fenning said.
“It seems like the profession has been under attack but no one will tell us exactly what a legitimate approach is.”
He said the firm’s planned listing this year has been pushed back until 2011, with the FFA and global financial crisis (GFC) forcing the slowdown.
“We sort of feel like we’re ready to list again but we’ll probably just sit on our hands pending a bit more clarification of exactly what it all means,” Fenning said.
“We’re not worried about it but we’re wanting to get on with the next phase of development with our business development and we feel we’ve been impeded by that lack of clarification.”
In a bid to secure greater clarification, he said the firm has approached their suppliers and the FPA.
“We think that there is so much noise and we’re realistic about our own size. While we seem to be one of the larger lights from one angle, we’re pretty insignificant in the scheme of things from another,” Fenning said.
Snowball Group managing director Tony McDonald said the proposed regulatory changes as well as the GFC could lead to unintended consequences for Australia’s advice industry.
“The unintended consequence of this is that the consumer turns around and says ‘you’re all too hard, I’ll just do it myself,'” McDonald said.
“The regulator needs to be mindful of unintentional consequences and it itself, just like the industry, needs to in a lot of quarters lift its socks in terms of making sure the consumer is the true master.”
