Industry Super Network executive manager David Whiteley has hit out at claims made by ING that its recent advertising campaign fuelled misconceptions about the value of advice.
On Wednesday, ING Australia chief executive Paul Bedbrook told an industry lunch that the advertising campaigns by the industry superannuation funds focused on the cost rather than the value of advice.
"The 'compare the pair' is a positive campaign that highlights one of the fundamental advantages that industry super funds have over their retail counterparts. They do not pay sales commissions," Whiteley said.
In the same presentation, Bedbrook said that as long as fees were properly disclosed than cost, including sales commissions, should not be an issue.
Quoting research from SuperRatings, Whiteley said that industry super funds, which do not pay sales commissions, could deliver more than $115,000 more retirement dollars to their members than retail master trusts that do pay sales commissions.
"The standard needs to be raised in the financial advice industry so that a client's best interest is put ahead of sales commissions," Whiteley said.
"The problem is not advice, but the fact that confusion between advisory and sales functions continues to plague the industry."
