The runners up for the Life Company of the Year were:

• TAL
• MetLife

AFA President, Sam Perera, said, “The AFA congratulates NEOS on winning the platinum award for the first time, and all the winners and finalists of individual awards. Despite the challenges in this sector in recent years, life insurance companies continue to innovate and adapt to the changing environment. Most important is their ongoing role in providing certainty and security to millions of Australians every year.”

The categories for the Awards include the overall Platinum AFA Life Company of the Year Award and individual product awards, offered in conjunction with Plan For Life, and the Client Service Team Awards with the Beddoes Institute.

The Overall and Product Life Company of the Year Awards

The overall award and product awards are based around Plan For Life’s Risk Products Benchmarking services, which benchmarks retail life insurers across five key metrics: financial strength, product features, premium rates, service and market strength. Sustainability of product features and premium rates, engagement, and health & wellness are also rated. Industry innovation in product is also recognised again this year.

Rael Solomon, Regional Managing Director, Plan For Life, said, “In 2022 the retail life insurance market continues to rebuild following the recent decline in numbers of advisers. While sales of new life insurance business remained at similar levels to the previous year, there are nonetheless distinct signs of strong activity in the ways that insurers are innovating their products and systems. This is reflected in Plan For Life Innovation Awards in three categories this year. The investment bond and annuity markets continued to forge ahead in the year and now represent substantial parts of the Savings and Retirement sectors.”

The Client Service Team Awards

The Client Service Team Awards, which recognise outstanding underwriting, claims and BDM teams, are based on feedback from advisers surveyed through the Beddoes Institute’s Adviser Experience Benchmarking Study.

In the Client Service Team Awards, NEOS Life was again announced Underwriting Team of the Year and also took out the BDM Team of the Year, whilst Zurich Australia won Claims Team of the Year.

Bill Nikolovski, CEO, Beddoes Institute, said, “We have seen the newer life insurance companies gain substantial traction in the marketplace recently, and it is clear why, when all the top performing insurers in the key touchpoints of Underwriting and Business Support were smaller companies. Congratulations to NEOS on taking out the Underwriting and Business Support Awards. Claims is at the heart of life insurance, and we congratulate Zurich on winning the award this year.”

The full list of winners are finalists are:

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The 2022 AFA Adviser of the Year Award finalists are:

• Charles Badenach – Main Street Financial Solutions
• Felicity Cooper – Cooper Wealth Management
• Joseph Hoe – Wealthwise

The advisers who nominated for the AFA Adviser of the Year Award were measured on a number of factors including their leadership qualities, innovation, customer focus and professional excellence.

Chief Distribution Officer, of Zurich’s Life & Investments, Kieran Forde, said “As an ongoing partner of this prestigious award, we are pleased to provide a platform that recognises and celebrates these talented individuals who drive positive change through their leadership, innovation, customer-centricity and commitment to professional excellence and financial literacy. It has been great to be part of the judging panel this year, these individuals make us proud to be a part of an industry that does so much good for individuals and the broader community.

AFA CEO, Phil Anderson, said “It’s been an honour to participate as a judge in the award process this year, to see the incredible caliber of candidates. The AFA and Zurich have supported this award for nearly 20 years, helping showcase outstanding advisers from across the profession, and this year has been no exception. It gives you great confidence for the future of the profession to see the high levels of expertise and commitment these advisers have in helping their clients achieve great outcomes.”

Finalists will present to a judging panel in mid September about their business achievements, community involvement and approach to mentoring others, as well as being able to demonstrate and articulate successful client outcomes.

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Celebrating its tenth year, the FEIA is a joint initiative by the AFA and TAL, that recognises women in financial advice who are making a significant contribution to their profession, their community and their clients.

The FEIA Award 2022 finalists are:

• Amie Baker – Rekab Advice
• Kathy Havers – Viridian Advisory
• Morgan Hayward – Yield Financial Advisory
• Madeline Jacovides – Mazi Wealth
• Kathryn McDonald – Boutique Advisers
• Cara Williams – Sufficient Funds

TAL General Manager, Retail Distribution, Niall McConville, said “Now in its tenth year, the Female Excellence in Advice Award continues to recognise outstanding female advisers. We hope in celebrating the achievements and unique perspectives of each of today’s finalists we can encourage more women to become financial advisers and in turn encourage more Australians to engage with their finances.”

AFA CEO, Phil Anderson, said “The objective of this award is simply compelling, to get more females into the advice profession and to encourage more females to access financial advice. It is remarkable to reflect upon the fantastic winners and finalists over the ten years of this award, to see such fantastic role models, many of whom have gone on to take leadership positions within the profession. This year is no different, and I look forward to seeing the winner announced at the Gala Dinner on Friday 23 September 2022.”

Finalists will present to a judging panel in mid September about their business achievements, community involvement and views on mentoring, education, gender diversity and future vision.

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Sam Perera

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) today announced Sam Perera has been appointed the AFA’s National President.

Mr Perera’s appointment follows a decision by National President Michael Nowak to resign after many years of contribution to the AFA Board as a board member and President.

AFA Treasurer, Matthew Hawkins, also announced his resignation after seven years on the Board.

“I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to Mike and Matt who have been long-serving members of the AFA Board,” Mr Perera said. “Mike has served for nine years, three of those as President, and Matt for seven years, a year as Treasurer.”

Mr Perera said the past few years have seen enormous pressures placed on advisers and the AFA, which represents them and advocates on their behalf.

“Mike has been an outstanding President of the AFA, tireless in his advocacy on behalf of the AFA as the Royal Commission reforms have continued unabated and the COVID-19 pandemic created major operational challenges for the AFA and our members,” he said.

“As Vice President, I had a unique insight into how the passion and absolute commitment Mike has for the AFA translated into a huge workload as President on top of his family and business commitments.

“The AFA Board fully supports Mike’s decision to share the load and allow somebody else to take on the presidential responsibilities.”

Mr Perera also acknowledged the contribution made by Matthew Hawkins.

“Matt also has significant work and family commitments and it’s time for somebody else to take on this significant role to allow him to focus on his other commitments,” he said.

Mr Perera said that at a Board meeting following the AGM, the other appointments made were:

• Michelle Veitch, Vice President
• Samantha Robinson, Treasurer

The AFA’s new president has been a member of the AFA Board for two years, one as Treasurer and one as Vice President.

All appointments are effective immediately.

The appointment of Sam Perera as President, Michelle Veitch as Vice President and Samantha Robinson as Treasurer are decisions of the Board to fill casual vacancies until the next AGM in 2022.

The AFA Board is now:

• President – Sam Perera
• Vice President – Michelle Veitch
• Treasurer – Samantha Robinson
• NSW/ACT – Katherine Hayes
• VIC – Vacant
• QLD – Patricia Garcia
• SA/NT – Jawad Ahmad
• WA – Stephen Knight
• TAS – Vacant
• Shaun McDonagh (Independent Director)

AFA CEO Helen Morgan-Banda thanked Mike and Matt on behalf of the AFA’s HQ team.

“Mike has been an inspirational leader for the AFA, and I want to thank him and Matt for supporting me and my team during a period of challenge and change,” she said.

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Phil Anderson

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) welcomes the passing yesterday of the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Better Advice) Bill 2021 (the Bill), which provides greater certainty for advisers, but also harbours some concerns.

AFA General Manager, Policy and Professionalism, Phil Anderson says, “We welcome confirmation of the establishment of the Single Disciplinary Body and the extension of the deadline for the FASEA exam.

“Greater certainty on the exam extension is important for those advisers who are awaiting the results of the September exam, and others who are preparing for what was to be the final exam in November.”

The extension of the deadline means advisers who have made at least two attempts before the end of this year will now have until 30 September 2022 to pass the exam.

The AFA is also broadly supportive of the draft regulations that have recently been released for consultation and believes that these regulations will help to minimise the extent of unnecessary complexity and cost that would have otherwise resulted.

This is an important Bill and will result in the:

• establishment of the Single Disciplinary Body (SBD)
• termination of FASEA
• transfer of the oversight of tax (financial) advisers from the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB)
• extension of the deadline for the FASEA Exam until 30 September 2022.

However, the AFA continues to harbour some concerns about the legislation.

“We are concerned about ASIC being required to investigate minor breaches of the law, even if they do not choose to refer them to a Financial Services and Credit Panel. This will add unnecessarily to the cost of running the Single Disciplinary body, which ultimately financial advisers and their clients will need to pay for,” Mr Anderson says.

“We are also concerned about the complex mechanism for the transition and registration of some tax (financial) advisers under the Tax Practitioners Board.”

The AFA will be advocating for both these issues to be reviewed and amended in the medium term.

“We will be calling for these changes as part of the Quality of Advice Review that the Government has committed to running in 2022,” Mr Anderson says.

“The passing of this Bill represents an important milestone, as it brings us close to the end of the Royal Commission reform process and will allow the financial advice profession to focus on their important role of advising and supporting clients.”

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Phil Anderson

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) welcomes the release of the Financial Services Council (FSC) White Paper (the White Paper), which follows the FSC Green Paper released earlier this year.

AFA General Manager, Policy and Professionalism, Phil Anderson, said the White Paper is an important contribution to the ongoing debate about the need to fix the financial advice regulatory regime.

“We also welcome the KPMG report on the cost of financial advice, which highlights the current problem with financial advice being excessively expensive and the importance of finding solutions, including regulatory reforms to reduce this cost.”

Mr Anderson said the White Paper includes a number of recommendations that should help to reduce the cost and time involved in the production of financial advice.

“We particularly welcome the recommendation on the removal of the safe harbour steps, the change of an SoA to a Letter of Advice, and the recommendation that financial advice be tax deductible,” he said.

“This paper is an important input into Treasury’s 2022 Quality of Advice Review, which is a big opportunity to get to the core of the issues and to find solutions to address the problems.”

Mr Anderson said the White Paper is helping to build the momentum for change.

“We look forward to working with all stakeholders to achieve change to make sure that financial advice can remain accessible and affordable for everyday Australians,” he said.

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Jane Hume

In what will be his first address to the financial advice community since his appointment in June 2021, ASIC Chair, Joseph Longo, will appear on the opening day of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA)’s upcoming EVOLVE Conference (the AFA Conference).

Mr Longo joins a distinguished line-up of expert speakers, including Senator Jane Hume, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy, who will deliver the opening keynote, and Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, Stephen Jones, MP. Former Lego executive, Conny Kalcher, from Zurich’s UK headquarters, will discuss her customer journey from Lego to Insurance, and Australia’s former Deputy Chief Medical Officer and COVID-19 expert, Dr Nick Coatsworth is the closing keynote speaker.

AFA’s new CEO, Helen Morgan-Banda, said, “I am looking forward to welcoming AFA members to our EVOLVE conference, as we celebrate 75 years as an association. I want to join with financial advisers and use this conference to start charting a way forward after a period of unprecedented change.”

Hosted by Master of Ceremonies, Nigel Collins, the AFA Conference will run from 21-22 September 2021. Delegates will have virtual access to 35 industry expert presentations which will be broadcast live across the nation and subsequently made available to delegates on demand for up to four months. The complete AFA Conference program offers up to 30 hours of CPD and delegates will be able to immediately download their CPD certificates after viewing an on-demand session via a new CPD Hub. Those joining the conference will also be able to take part in interactive sessions and visit virtual exhibitor showrooms.

Olivia Sarah-Le Lacheur, AFA Conference Chair, said, “Once again, the AFA Conference program has been expertly designed to help delegates increase their technical knowledge, while also giving them insights into how to grow their businesses. It provides an outstanding opportunity for advisers to access information that will help them to take their practices to the next level.”

The AFA Conference will also host a special 75th birthday celebration.

Other sessions include a comprehensive regulatory update from AFA General Manager, Policy and Professionalism, Phil Anderson; sessions on investment, pricing, and industry trends; updates from the AFA Foundation and Pro Bono Financial Advice Network; insights from industry heads of business, and seven panel discussions covering key issues across the profession.

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Michael Nowak

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA)’s advocacy on behalf of its members has helped win a major concession from the Government, with the proposed trebling of the ASIC Funding Levy (the ASIC Levy) on hold, AFA National President Michael Nowak announced today.

“The proposed increase would have seen the ASIC Funding Levy per financial adviser increase by 200% in just over two years, from $1,142 in 2018/19 to an estimated $3,450 in 2020/21,” he said.

Mr Nowak said that in response to extreme concerns raised by the AFA and the advice sector about the impact of the increases, the Government has decided to reduce the ASIC Levy back to the 2018/19 level of $1,142 per adviser for the next two years, in the face of further Hayne Royal Commission recommendations being implemented.

During this time the Government has announced it will also be undertaking a review of the ASIC industry funding model to ensure that it remains fit-for-purpose.

“This is a much-needed move in the right direction, and I want to thank the Treasurer The Hon. Josh Frydenberg, MP and the Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy the Hon. Jane Hume and the Government for finally listening to the AFA and the advice sector,” Mr Nowak said.

“The financial advisers the AFA represents are dealing with a requirement to sit a compulsory FASEA Exam and meet other education standards to keep their livelihood, on top of an overwhelming volume of other regulatory reform, huge sectoral restructuring and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

“It was unjustifiable to expect advisers already dealing with this tsunami of reforms to have to find extra cash to fund a trebling of the levy over two years to support an industry funding model requiring small businesses to pick up the cost of litigation against large institutions.

“This is a significant first step in starting to address the practical impact of the reforms on the ability of financial advisers to offer everyday Australians sound financial advice to give them financial security and independence.

“There is much more to be done to ensure that post the reforms financial advice can still be delivered in an efficient and cost-effective manner, thereby ensuring that it is available to the majority of Australians.

“The ASIC Funding Levy has been the subject of intense discussion at Parliamentary hearings throughout the course of 2021, and we thank all those politicians who have picked up this cause and lobbied on behalf of the financial advice profession.”

At the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services hearing with ASIC on Friday 27 August 2021, the ASIC Funding Levy was the subject of discussion for the first 50 minutes, with probing questions from a number of the committee members.  The AFA thanks Andrew Wallace (LNP Qld), Bert van Manen (LNP Qld), Senator Deborah O’Neill (ALP NSW) and Steve Georganas (ALP SA) for their passionate pursuit of this matter.

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Olivia Sarah-Le Lacheur

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) is pleased to announce that AIA Australia and OnePath Life^[1] have partnered with the AFA Foundation to support our charitable work that is changing lives across the nation.

AFA Foundation Chair, Olivia Sarah-Le Lacheur, said the partnerships will help the AFA Foundation provide additional valuable support to charities that assist people in need across the country.

“We thank AIA Australia and OnePath Life for partnering with us to help improve the lives of Australians who are doing it tough,” she said. “Their contributions to the AFA Foundation will allow us to broaden and strengthen our charitable giving efforts.”

Ben Walsh, Chief Insurance & Investments Officer at AIA Australia, said, “We are a partnering organisation that champions shared value and making a difference in people’s lives. By teaming up with the AFA Foundation, we are choosing to support a Foundation that significantly enriches the lives and livelihoods of others – which in turn will create meaningful impact and serve our community for the better.”

Nathan Taggart, Head of Sales at Zurich and OnePath Life, said, “In the face of the current challenges posed by COVID-19, we are incredibly proud to support the AFA Foundation’s efforts to support these important charities and in turn make a difference to everyday Australians and their families.  We have a responsibility to positively impact the lives of our customers, partners and the broader community. This initiative, and our long-standing partnership with the AFA, is another way we hope we can make a difference.”

Through the financial contributions and hard work of members of the AFA community and the AFA Foundation committee, over $2 million has been provided to charity partners across Australia since the AFA Foundation was established in 2007.

———-

[1] OnePath Life is part of the Zurich Group

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Michael Nowak

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) National President, Michael Nowak, Vice President, Sam Perera and Acting CEO, Phil Anderson appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics (the Committee) earlier today.

AFA National President, Michael Nowak said, “The AFA is pursuing a deliberate strategy to ensure that this important Committee was left with no illusion as to the significant issues facing the advice sector and the impact this is having on the accessibility of financial advice as a result of the continuing regulatory reform agenda.”

The AFA alerted the Committee to a number of significant issues, including that:

• financial advisers are drowning in red tape and compliance related costs, due to the aggressive and never-ending regulatory reform agenda
• access and affordability to financial advice continues to decline rapidly
• existing financial advice clients are satisfied with their advisers and are the missing voice that needs to be considered in the context of reform.

The AFA thanks its members for their continued support and are committed to working hard to maintain the trust and confidence of members in highlighting the issues impacting financial advisers and their clients.

Read the AFA’s Opening Statement.

The testimony of Michael Nowak, Sam Perera and Phil Anderson will be available on the Parliament of Australia website in due course.

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