Brad Fox
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) will hold a half-hour adviser open forum on the recently announced Life Insurance Framework (LIF) at each of its annual national roadshow events later this month.
“The sessions follow on from a special member webinar we hosted on 1 July,” said AFA CEO Brad Fox. “There continues to be a great deal of uncertainty, confusion and concern around the detail and implications of the Life Insurance Framework. The open-style forum will give advisers the opportunity to ask questions, share ideas and start to consider solutions that other advisers are already adopting.”
Mr Fox said a number of issues were raised during the webinar, including the contentious issue of clawbacks. “The three year responsibility period was the number one concern for those who participated in the webinar and given the potential impact this could have on advice businesses, it did not come as any great surprise,” Mr Fox said. “We share a number of very valid concerns around clawback and it is important for advisers to understand why it is in the framework and the negotiations behind it. The AFA National Roadshow will allow us to further discuss these concerns.”
Mr Fox said the LIF has generated heated debate, concern and anxiety. “This is understandable because what has been released by the Government represents the biggest change to life insurance advice for many decades,” he said. “The open forum will sort the fact from the fiction and open the way for advisers to start thinking about how to manage the changes. This is an important opportunity for our members to take.”
The AFA National Roadshow will also feature a dynamic line-up of presenters including Brendan Cox, General Manager of Complete Financial Balance (CFB), the AFA’s 2014 Practice of the Year. Brendan will share how CFB is approaching the challenges posed by the LIF proposals. CFB began moving to what they call a ‘fee for value’ approach some years ago and Mr Cox believes adapting to the changes is about understanding the value advisers deliver to clients, expressing it in a meaningful manner and then demonstrating it. “It really is as simple and as difficult as that,” he said. “We must embrace a mindset of understanding the value of financial advice. We need to focus on the value we are presenting and not so much on the fee,” he said.
US-based Dr David Lazenby, Chief Finology Officer at PortfolioConstruction Forum will headline each of the Roadshow events. Dr Lazenby will present a finology forum. Finology is the emerging (and converging) research field covering the study of minds, customs and behaviours with respect to money. A leading expert in financial planning experience design, Dr Lazenby takes psychology from academic theory to the real world to help wealth professionals develop their bedside manner, human relations skills, systems thinking and scenario planning techniques and tools.
The AFA National Roadshow will kick off in Hobart on July 21 and tour major capital cities before finishing up in Brisbane on July 30. For more information and to register visit the AFA website.