In a submission to Treasury’s Quality of Advice Review, Scientiam has called on the government to make it easier for financial advisers to use technology to disseminate general information by simplifying the regulatory framework.

According to Nigel Baker, Founder of Scientiam and Managing Director of Arch Capital, financial advisers – given their qualifications, experience and skills – are ideally positioned to provide general information.

“When it comes to digital solutions, there are some concerns about the quality of information currently being issued but quality comes back to the source, which is why qualified and experienced advisers should be leaders in general information,” he said.

“General information, educational content and financial planning tools prepared and approved by advisers are always going to be better and lower risk than services offered by product manufacturers and unqualified finfluencers.”

“Advisers are also strongly positioned to determine if a person is better suited to a personal advice proposition or general information. An integrated approach would maximise the probability of clients receiving high quality information and advice throughout their life.”

The Scientiam submission also questioned the appropriateness of employees of product issuers calling themselves financial advisers and representing their services as financial product advice. “Financial product advice is not advice. It should be called information. Intra-fund advice is not advice. It is a form of financial product information and that is not immediately clear to members,” the submission said, mirroring sentiments in the 2014 Financial System Inquiry Final Report and the 2018 Productivity Commission Inquiry Report into Competition in the Australian Financial System.

“People linked to a super fund or product issuer can only provide information. To use a medical analogy, doctors provide independent advice. They may recommend medication and treatment, but they don’t sell it. Pharmacists sell product. The two propositions are very different and separate,” the Scientiam submission said.

Scientiam is a low-cost digital advice solution that was launched in the IFA market in early 2022, after being successfully used by financial advisory firm, Arch Capital.

Scientiam aims to help financial advisers deliver high quality general information to their C & D clients, staff and family members, and the adult children of existing clients, as part of an intergenerational advice proposition.

“We support the objectives of the Quality of Advice Review and agree with many of the observations made in the Issues Paper,” Mr Baker said.

“We commend Treasury’s desire to improve advice quality, affordability and accessibility, and remove impediments to new forms for advice.”

“We believe technology has the ability to underpin the advice industry’s growth and give more Australians access to information and alternative advice models.”

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