“A world in which unnecessary costs impede consumer access to advice is bad for consumers, bad for advisers and bad for the country,” said Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) CEO Richard Klipin. “The AFA’s Back to Basics research, released last year, revealed that only two in 10 Australians currently receive advice. Measures which make it more expensive to get advice means even fewer will be able to afford it.”

Mr Klipin said that without advice Australians are at even greater risk of being inadequately funded for retirement and inadequately insured.

“The cost to the Australian government of underinsurance alone is estimated to be $1.3 billion over the next 10 years according to the Lifewise/NATSEM Underinsurance Report released last year,” Mr Klipin said. “It’s time we looked for solutions to the big issues facing this country, rather than tie financial advisers and their clients up in endless red tape.

“Opt-in is poor public policy with no discernable benefit –  not for consumers, not for the advisory profession and not for the broader community,” said Mr Klipin. “It looks like a policy dreamed up by the scriptwriters of Yes Minister.”

Mr Klipin said the AFA would continue to oppose opt-in. “This so-called reform will hurt the very people it is designed to protect,” he said. “The AFA is committed to going into bat for the millions of clients our advisers serve.”

The post The prohibitive cost of opt-in appeared first on AdviserVoice.