Financial planners are concerned platform fees will not be impacted if the advice industry is forced to adopt a fee-based only remuneration model.
Financial planners are questioning whether platform providers will be forced to adjust their fees under a new fee model, FPA chief executive Jo-Anne Bloch told the 9th annual Wraps, Platforms and Masterfunds Conference.
"The cost of advice is expensive in Australia because of compliance and so forth but also the cost across the whole surface is expensive and financial planners are starting to ask the question: 'if we are going to move to a fee-based service and we are going to have to change what we do, where is this going to impact up the line, particularly if fees are unbundled and there is greater transparency?'" Bloch said.
She said planners are also questioning the need to continue paying platforms a percentage of funds under management and not dollar-based fees, if the platform offering is a service, not a product.
ASIC has also expressed concerns around moving between platforms and master trusts for advisers and their clients, Bloch said.
"If you want to move from one dealer group to another, from one financial planner to another and you want to move from a master trust to a platform or a platform to a platform, we've got to do a better job to make that more portable," she said.
"I do issue a challenge to you to think about some of the portability issues, some of the issues around helping clients and planners move. I know it doesn't sound very appealing from a business point of view, but I do think this is where we are going to have to head."
