WHEN it comes to their clients, opt-in is a philosophy that should be adhered to by all advisers, dealer groups, product providers, lenders and associations, irrespective of whether the opt-in clause becomes a mandatory requirement.
The call for a holistic, industry-wide adoption of opt-in principles was made by consultancy firm Business Health, which rejects the push for opt-in to be a legislative requirement, arguing that it is instead an ethos that must permeate the entire chain of command.
"While there are concerns that the opt-in clause could create an administrative burden and therefore drive up costs, the philosophy around it is hard to argue with as it ensures that advisers seek regular feedback from clients including whether clients feel they're getting value for money," Business Health partner Rod Bertino said.
"In our opinion if advisers do it for clients, service providers should do it for advisers as well."
Bertino reinforced that Business Health did not think opt-in should be mandatory but rather a means for service providers to regularly reinforce what they're doing for clients and ensure that they're only remunerated where a service is actually being provided.
If dealer groups were confident that they were providing a valuable service to their advisers and that their advisers would all opt-in, they would surely want to advertise that, Bertino added.
"I think any licensee that did it would capture the attention of every adviser across the country," he said.
A recent survey commissioned by National Australia Bank's Financial Planning Banking team and the Association of Financial Advisers, revealed that while there are significant concerns surrounding the mandating of opt-in, two out of five industry respondents did not oppose it.
