Daniel Gara

Authorised representatives who take part in training for their AdviserLogic software will be eligible for up to four Financial Planning Association (FPA) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points as of 27 October 2014.

Head of Product Development, Daniel Gara, says the CPD accreditation is another demonstration of AdviserLogic’s commitment to help advisers to perform at their best. “Our goal is to help advisers develop and maintain high-performing, compliant and client-centric practices,” he says. “Providing CPD points is one way we can help them to achieve this.

The FPA-accredited AdviserLogic training sessions are offered in webinar format, hosted by AdviserLogic Product Specialists. Introductory and intermediate sessions are aimed at new users while cashflow and workflow sessions are for both new users and existing users who have upgraded their software package. “One CPD point will be given for each module completed from the AdviserLogic introductory session, intermediate session, cashflow session and workflow session,” Mr Gara says.

For ASIC competency purposes, the points all fall within ‘Skills’.  For FPA Professional Dimensions, 0.5 point applies for Capability, and 0.5 point for Attributes and Performance.

The CPD points will be applied to training completed after 27 October 2014.

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Mark Rantall

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) yesterday rejected the Financial Services Council’s (FSC) call for a new statutory advice board to oversee the Australian financial advice industry, labelling it ‘another band-aid solution’.

The FSC yesterday called for the establishment of a new Board to control education and professional standards in the financial planning and advice profession. It has suggested its members fund this Board. The FPA views this proposal as:

1. Potentially embedding inherent conflicts, rather than eliminating them, given the proposed body is industry funded
2. Asking Government to do the industry’s job of setting appropriate professional and educational standards (rather than establishing a regulatory framework and minimum standards and enforcing them.

Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA said: “We see the FSC proposal as a band-aid solution that masks underlying, systemic issues. We don’t need a new Board to oversee the Australian financial advice industry. What we do need is long-term, effective change that is transparent.”

According to Mr Rantall, this call shifts the responsibility of regulation onto government and away from much-needed internal reform. “This model gives up on self-regulation, but creates more red tape. Removing the self-responsibility of advice businesses to do their best by consumers is not a solution. “The financial planning issues we face as a nation require long-term, systemic change.

This industry reform effort will require significant work on the part of individual planners and the organisations that lead and manage them. It isn’t a job for government. “We believe the role of Government and regulators’ is to set minimums standards and enforce them legally – it is not to do the industry’s job by defining what professionalism in advice looks like.”

The FPA has consistently called for significant industry change, campaigning for key measures such as:

1. Unambiguous separation of product sales from professional personal advice. This means regulations must call product sales what they are i.e. “product sales” rather than General Advice (as per previous representations on the Future of Financial Advice reforms)
2. Lifting educational standards so every new financial planner has a degree, as well as relevant post graduate qualifications and experience. An adequate standard is the internationally recognised CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP) designation. This is the globally recognised “gold standard” in contrast to the current, inadequate standard of RG146 – a qualification that takes less than two weeks to achieve. Existing financial planners should have to meet any competency standard gaps at an approved degree level.
3. Enshrining the term ‘financial planner’ in law to ensure that Australian consumers can trust the financial planner they find when seeking financial advice.

“We have long called for higher education standards and strongly believe that these standards need to be set by a professional body and that there needs to be international independence around education and standards. We have that with the Financial Planning Standards Board. The FSC proposal ignores the fact that four of the five largest FSC members support the CFP® designation as the appropriate standard to aspire to. “The blueprint for trust is simple: raise the bar in terms of professional and education standards for financial planners; separate product sales from professional personal financial advice and enshrine the term ‘financial planner’ in law so Australians can identify the professionals and trust the profession. “The FPA supports planners to meet the highest possible standards, and requires that our members meet or exceed these standards to maintain their professional standing.”

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Mark Rantall

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) continues to champion the need to change current education requirements within the financial planning profession, focusing heavily on this in its recent submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) Inquiry.

According to Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, the submission’s focus on increasing minimum education standards and requirements for those providing personal financial advice to consumers is a natural continuation of the aspirational, but achievable recommendations outlined in the FPA 10 Point Plan released earlier this year.

“The PJC Inquiry, designed to examine financial planner education, professional standards and ethics, and recognition of professional bodies, will help advance the profession of financial planning. We welcome the opportunity to put our views forward on what specifically this advancement should look like in terms of minimum degree qualifications to be a financial planner/adviser, recognition of professional bodies and General Advice being re-named ‘general or product information’.

“Australia’s largest institutions have recently stepped up and announced they will be lifting their education standards for the benefit of consumers, and the profession. This in in line with our 10 Point Plan to restore trust in the financial planning profession. Consumers deserve this and more, which is why getting the outcomes of this Inquiry right is important.

“When implementing new standards, it’s important we lead for the future and respect the past. We therefore consider it important to introduce an appropriate transition and pathway options for existing advisers, and an approved degree requirement for new advisers from 1 January 2018.”

“We are committed to working with government, industry bodies, financial planners and consumers to ensure we live up to the expectations of our profession. When all financial planners are members of a professional association, when all financial planners are listed on a public register, when more financial planners carry the world class CFP^® designation, we are in a better position to uphold trust in our industry.”

Mr Rantall pointed to recent ASIC enforcement actions to highlight the clear distinction between financial planners who are members of a professional association and those who are not.

“Our review of data collected since 2009 on ASIC enforcement action concerning individuals in relation to financial advice, shows that FPA members represent significantly less than 5% of the overall ASIC enforcement action each year – even though they represent nearly 50% of financial planners in Australia. From a professional stand-point and in the eyes of consumers, it should be clear then that being a member of a professional body with additional regulatory oversight of professional obligations is an obvious gold standard.”

The FPA’s full submission will be available to media following its publication by the PJC.

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Mark Rantall

The 14^th annual Financial Planning Week (FP Week) wrapped up this week, and has revealed that Australians are most concerned about retirement, home loans, superannuation and the best way to invest their hard earned savings.

The results of the campaign, run by the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA), have also shown that Australians aged between 20 and 35, are particularly interested in ‘quick fix’ tips to help them get ahead and make the most of any surplus income before they incur long-term debt.

Not surprisingly, people aged 50+ were the most engaged in FP Week, seeking out content that explained how they can prepare for retirement and also maximise retirement income.

Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, reflected on the campaign: “The aim of FP Week has always been to show the value of advice and demonstrate to Australians that qualified, professional advice can help secure their financial future and also help with short term goals.

“The financial planning profession has been in the spotlight recently, and education announcements made during FP Week by large financial institutions are another win for consumers because they will ultimately result in better protection and quality of advice. When people go and see a planner, they have a right to trust the person they see.”

One way the FPA seeks to demonstrate the benefits of good advice is through its Ask an Expert forum, Run by the FPA during its annual FP Week and Ask an Expert campaigns, Ask an Expert is a free service that allows people to submit a question about their finances to an FPA member.

“Over 20,000 people viewed our Ask an Expert forum this year, a 100% increase when compared to last year’s campaign, which shows there is a growing appetite and awareness of advice in Australia.

“As well as encouraging people to use this service, we also ran a consumer blog throughout FP Week that focused on different demographic groups and provided targeted and relevant content for each.

“Based on the visitor traffic to our blog, we can see that the piece about getting ahead in your 20s and 30s was most popular. Often we assume that people that fit into this demographic aren’t actively looking to manage their finances but FP Week has revealed that their appetite for advice isn’t much different from the retirement age group,” Mr Rantall explained.

Nearly 7,000 people viewed the FPA’s Find a Planner directory during FP Week to search for a qualified financial planner in their area.

“For 14 years, the goal of FP Week has been to show Australians the positive impact that qualified advice can have, and also encourage them to seek personal advice of their own. It is encouraging to see Australians using our directory to find a member of our association that can help with their finances.

“We want to thank those members who have contributed to the success of this year’s Financial Planning Week by contributing to the blog and Ask an Expert forum. We represent a community of professionals that is passionate about improving the lives of their clients through qualified financial advice, not only during FP Week, but ongoing,” Mr Rantall said.

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Along with his award-winning career as a journalist reporting for outlets such as ABC and60 Minutes, Ray has been involved in various charities and is a celebrated media personality.

“There is no one better qualified to open this year’s Congress, and we look forward to Ray taking us on a journey through the lives of the guests,” Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, said.

“Our focus for Congress is to inspire greatness among the financial planning profession and it is appropriate to open the event with a discussion among four esteemed Australians, including Ita Buttrose, the 2013 Australian of the Year.

“These four Australians have all made a difference in the lives of others through their chosen vocation. We firmly believe that planners are doing the same in the lives of their clients, and Congress is about highlighting this message and inspiring planners to continue making a difference.”

As well as esteemed author, businesswoman and editor, Ita Buttrose, the panel will be completed by Jihad Dib and Tara Moss.

Jihad Dib, Principal at Punchbowl Boys’ High School, managed to change the culture of an entire school through his modern-day leadership style, which also resulted in Jihad winning the Inspiration category for NSW at the 2013 Pride of Australia awards.

The panel will be rounded out by Tara Moss, former supermodel and author of nine bestselling novels. Tara is a voice for the rights of women and children and she will will explore how we are inspired to greatness by our passion and commitment.

Ray, Jihad, Tara and Ita join Andrew Denton, Maggie Beer, Carl Richards and Michael McQueen on the list of personalities announced for this year’s Congress.

For more information please visit: www.fpacongress.com.au.

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FPA supports efforts to increase educational standards.

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) strongly supports moves by Australia’s largest financial planning groups to lift the education standards of financial planning professionals, calling it a positive step in the right direction for the profession and its clients.

Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, said: “Australians have the right to know that when they look for financial advice, they can trust the person they work with. Part of that trust lies in the qualifications and experience of the financial planner.

“Recent announcements by large financial planning businesses to increase education levels reflect a major change for the profession and for its clients. These changes also take us closer to having a self-regulating profession.

“We want Australians to feel empowered and realise the benefits of trusted financial advice. This is why it is important for them to know that their financial planner is a member of a professional association, and is appropriately qualified.”

According to Mr Rantall, Australians can view the Financial Planning Association’s Certified Financial Planner^® designation as a proxy for trust. The large financial planning businesses who have undertaken to raise standards will use the Certified Financial Planner^® designation as part of the qualifications they will require their financial planners to have.

“The Certified Financial Planner^® designation is one way Australians can know they’re dealing with the best – a financial planner who has the right education, who is bound by a code of ethics and who is committed to their clients’ best interests.”

The Certified Financial Planner^® designation is only available to financial planners with a degree covering areas such as finance, superannuation, estate planning, insurance, financial planning, taxation, investment and commercial law. It then requires a further two-three years to complete the certification. The financial planner must have three years’ experience to qualify and then must complete 40 hours of ongoing professional development each year. This requirement is subject to audits by the Financial Planning Association.

Mr Rantall said the FPA is hopeful the financial planning profession will continue to take the necessary steps to continue to raise the bar in terms of education and self-regulation. He pointed to a fully transparent, public register of financial planners as another necessary move to ensure consumers have access to the right information to make a truly informed decision when choosing a financial planner.

“We strongly support a financial planner register and see this move as critical to being a transparent and trusted profession, alongside the requirement that financial planners operate as a member of a professional association under an ASIC and the Tax Practitioners approved code.

“The FPA, through its professional members, stands with Australians for a better financial future. We have more work to do with our members, financial planning groups, regulators, government and industry bodies to ensure we live up to the expectations of our profession and its clients.

“Helping people make decisions about their financial future is a critical job and we are committed to ensuring we get this right,” Mr Rantall concluded.

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Mark Rantall

Regardless of age, one thing is for certain – Australians could be doing more to make their financial future look brighter. And often it is about taking some simple steps, setting up good habits and seeking sound advice, rather than having a ton of money or a complex financial plan.

This is the key message the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) is hoping to bring to life this week as it kicks off the 14th annual Financial Planning Week, which will run nationwide from Monday 25 August to Sunday 31 August.

Financial Planning Week is designed to increase Australians’ understanding of what financial advice is and the benefits it can bring. The campaign aims to show consumers that using a financial planner shouldn’t be viewed as an option only for the wealthy.

CEO of the FPA and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, Mark Rantall, said Financial Planning Week is an opportunity to re-focus the discussion about financial advice and to illustrate to consumers that the right advice from a trusted and qualified financial planner can make a positive impact to their financial future.

“Trust is a critical component of financial advice and Australians have the right to know that when they seek financial guidance, they can trust the person they find.

“We are aware that now more than ever, financial planners are in the spotlight. As a result, consumers may feel overwhelmed with information and might not know where to start looking or how to ensure they are receiving quality advice. We want to help them feel confident about being in the driver’s seat; but also empowered about seeking expert advice.

“To make an informed decision on the help they may need, it is essential for consumers to have an understanding of financial advice and how they may benefit from it. That is why the central theme of this year’s Financial Planning Week is ‘back to basics,’ Mr Rantall added.

“The best way to succeed in reaching financial goals is through a plan. Calling on a trusted financial expert to help consumers develop a plan – and sticking to it – can make the difference between success and failure.

“Financial Planning Week is an initiative that helps consumers find the right financial tools and experts to help them achieve their goals.

“Financial planning can involve complexity but what the FPA is aiming to do with Financial Planning Week is have very simple information and tools that anyone can use to better understand how financial planning works.

“These include the free and popular ‘Ask an Expert’ initiative that allows Australians to ask a financial planner whatever burning finance questions they may have.

Financial Planning Week will be centred on the different life-stages, which can dictate various financial needs: young to mid-life, mid-life, pre-retirement and retirement.”

Some of the activities which will take place in Financial Planning Week are:

• ‘Ask an Expert’ gives all Australians the opportunity to ask their financial questions, no matter how simple or complex, in their own words, and have them answered by an expert financial planner for free. ‘Ask an Expert’ is an online forum on the FPA website.
• The FPA website will have useful insights, blogs, case studies and other material available, bringing to life the benefits of financial advice.
• ‘Find-a-Planner’ is a directory of qualified financial planners by area.
• The FPA Twitter handle (@AustraliaFPA) will answer tweets and post links to a range of financial content at http://twitter.com/australiafpa

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James Kenny

The search for Australia’s top financial planners has kicked off again with submissions to the prestigious 2014 Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) Awards now open.

Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, says that the awards are timely given recent events in the industry, “As a profession, we have been under intense scrutiny in the last 12 months, and now more than ever we need to be celebrating the best of the industry and those who not only comply with the FPA Code, but really make a difference in their client’s lives.”

The FPA Code of Professional Practice holds members to a high standard of ethics, practice standards and professional conduct. The FPA Awards recognise financial planners who adhere to this Code and provide superior results for their clients.

“We often hear stories of planners going above and beyond for their clients, and the FPA Awards are a great way to recognise their hard work and acknowledge the positive impact that financial advice can have,” Mr Rantall said.

“Winners of the FPA Awards will be those planners who have complied with the Code, delivered great results, and contributed to the profession through community involvement, mentoring and support to their local FPA member base.”

The FPA Awards, previously known as the Best Practice Awards, have become a recognised and coveted symbol of trust and reassurance to Australian consumers looking for advice from a financial planner. Previous winners of these awards have experienced benefits from both a personal and business perspective.

James Kenny, winner of the 2013 CFP® Professional FPA Award “Winning the ‘2013 FPA Certified Financial Planner® Professional Best Practice Award’ has helped to promote, differentiate and add greater credibility to my service offering as a professional Financial Planner. In an evolving profession, the FPA awards provide an invaluable opportunity to promote our profession and the value of great advice for consumers. Although the prize that I received as a category winner was noteworthy, it really paled in comparison to the significant boost in business that I’ve experienced, largely due to the publicity and media opportunities that followed. I would encourage all Financial Planners that provide high quality, professional advice to their clients to enter the 2014 Awards and benchmark their advice against Australia’s best Financial Planners.”

All members of the FPA are eligible to enter the awards. As with previous years, the FPA Awards will be divided into three categories:

• FPA CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Professional of the Year Award
• FPA Financial Planner AFP® of the Year Award
• Future2 Community Service Award

Winners will be identified for each region and from these winners, a national award will be presented.

The deadline for submissions for the FPA Awards is Friday 12 September and winners will be announced and profiled in October in the lead up to the 2014 FPA Professionals Congress on 19-21 November, where they will be presented with their awards.

The three national winners receive free entry to the Professionals Congress and $5,000 towards either a client event or professional development.

For more information and details on how to enter the awards, please visit www.fpa.asn.au/awards

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Andrew Denton

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has announced broadcaster and television personality Andrew Denton as a keynote speaker for its 2014 Professionals Congress in Adelaide and renowned food personality Maggie Beer for the Women in Finance Breakfast.

The FPA has also revealed a comprehensive workshop agenda covering technical skills, best practice, personal development and leadership skills.

Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, said: “We’re really excited to bring this year’s program to the financial planning community. It’s a comprehensive agenda with top industry experts and high quality speakers such as Andrew Denton, Carl Richards, Michael McQueen and Maggie Beer.

“Everyone should also stay tuned for our last major speaker announcement in September.”

Widely-respected food personality, Maggie Beer, will be hosting the Women in Finance breakfast, to speak about her philosophy: ‘A good food for life for all – and all that encompasses’.

Alongside Maggie Beer, Andrew Denton has been announced as the third keynote speaker. Andrew will draw on his 25 years in media and interviews with everyone from world leaders to the homeless, to share his thoughts on what makes a successful leader.

Previously announced keynote speakers Michael McQueen and US-based Carl Richards CFP^® are also part of this year’s high profile line up. Michael, a social researcher and author, will provide insights into how businesses and leaders can ride the waves of change. Following his popular session in 2013, Michael will be leading a CFP^® Masterclass, where he will share specific success stories from financial planners around the world to help planners change the lives of their clients.

The FPA Professionals Congress is taking place from 19 – 21 November. For more information or to register for the FPA Professionals Congress, visit: www.fpacongress.com.au. Early bird registration closes on 31 August.

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Mark Rantall

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has welcomed the National Financial Literacy Strategy 2014-17, launched last Friday by ASIC.

The FPA is committed to ensuring that consumers have access to the best financial advice. It sees financial literacy as key to this process, allowing consumers to confidently make decisions in terms of finding the right financial planner and acting on their advice.

Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, said: “We firmly believe that all Australians have the right to access the best financial advice. We also agree that there is more to be done to ensure that financial literacy is improved across the board. Ultimately, financial literacy is an everyday life skill that allows people to better understand their finances and to appropriately manage their financial outlook. We welcome ASIC’s commitment to helping consumers in this space, with the launch of this Strategy as well as its MoneySmart Week initiative.

“A collective push is needed from industry and businesses, working together to increase financial literacy and to help bring about the right financial outcomes for all Australians.”

According to ASIC, the National Financial Literacy Strategy 2014-17 aims to improve the financial literacy of all Australians. It will do so by providing a national framework that will allow meaningful action from stakeholders including government, business, community and education sectors.

Mr Rantall said the FPA will continue to support consumer-focused initiatives to execute its vision through members to stand with Australians for a better financial future. It will also continue its own direct work in this space, through Financial Planning Week from 25-29 August, to highlight the benefits of a financial plan and trusted advice.

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