The FPA believes the Financial Services Working Group’s (FSWG) focus on intra-fund advice is not broad enough to address the serious issues of cost and accessibility of advice, FPA chief executive Jo-Anne Bloch has said.
The association wants financial services reforms to move away from the current one-size-fits-all regulatory approach to reduce the cost and improve accessibility of financial advice for consumers.
Reform should be more ambitious in scope if it was to meet the expectations of consumers, the FPA said in its submission to the (FSWG) on “Simple choices within an existing superannuation account”.
“There is a need to focus on fixing the problems inherent in the financial services reform regime,” Bloch said.
Some of the FPA’s key recommendations include seeking clarity within the law on the ability to provide advice, revising the definition of personal advice within the Corporations Act 2001 and encouraging the wider adoption of short-form statements of advice.
There were several key decision points within superannuation, which were complicated, and professional advice could help make a considerable difference, Bloch said.
“However, the issues impacting consumer access to affordable advice are not limited to the subject of superannuation,” she said.
