BT Financial Group chief executive Rob Coombe has called for the advice industry to provide financial planning to people at a cost of only $200.
The majority of Australians can't afford advice, and it needs to be cost effective if we are to engage people with their superannuation, Coombe told an audience at the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) yesterday.
During the accumulation phase of their retirement people only need advice in three main areas, according to Coombe.
Do they have adequate retirement savings, have they chosen the right fund and have they got right insurance arrangements in place, he said.
"We need a regulatory environment in which this advice can be provided for no more than $200."
He called on the regulator to simplify the cost of providing advice including reducing the size of product disclosure documents to make them simpler.
"At the moment there is no incentive to provide advice to those people who have low superannuation balances," Coombe said.
He also said that the cost of advice needs to be more transparent.
"People want a standard comparison of fees between funds. They want to clearly understand what they are paying for. They want a dollar figure, not a percentage or any hidden commissions," he said.
