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Advice firms seek details on volume bonuses

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5 minute read

Planning groups are currently liaising with the government regarding volume bonuses.

Financial planning companies are seeking greater clarification from the federal government on the proposed ban on volume bonuses or rebates paid by platforms to advisers.

A number of companies said they would approach the government for further details on the proposals before taking action.

"One of the decisions [Financial Services] Minister [Chris] Bowen made was also around volume rebates. We still need to see the detail on that so we need to work through with the government, which we are very keen and prepared to do, how that will actually apply," AMP chief executive Craig Dunn said.

The issue of rebates was most pertinent for AMP-owned dealer group Hillross Financial Services, Dunn said.

 
 

"The actual volume rebates in AMP Financial Planning are virtually non-existent, so there is no significant issue for us there in any event. They are a bit more significant in Hillross, so we need to see the detail around the minister's thinking before we make any decisions," he said.

As of 1 July, AMP will abolish commissions on new superannuation, pension and investment products and move to fee-for-service advice across all of its product and advice businesses.

Dunn said AMP would not abolish volume rebates until it had a better idea of the government's plans.

Axa Asia Pacific (Axa AP) chairman Rick Allert said the company would also liaise with the government on volume rebates.

"We believe we are well placed to deal with all of these changes," Allert said at the company's annual general meeting last week.

Volume rebates were ingrained in the fabric of platforms and taking them out would require a significant overhaul of the systems, dealer groups have argued.

Count Financial chief executive Andrew Gale said a possible solution to the problem was to take part of the product manufacturing process in house or establish a multi-manager division.

However, Gale said such a move would not necessarily mean it would reduce its use of managed funds of external providers.

"If Count was to assume the product manufacturer role this would essentially be at the platform level. This does not imply that Count would produce or eliminate the use of managed funds," he said.

Earlier this month, BT Wrap called on the government to review its position on volume rebates, arguing the fee model had been incorrectly lumped in with the government's fee and commission crackdown.