Date posted: 15/01/2021

Affordable advice for consumers

In a recent submission to ASIC, CA ANZ has highlighted the importance of affordable financial advice to help business to reset.

In brief

CA ANZ has long advocated for industry reform to ensure that more consumers can access high quality, ethical and professional financial advice
Clients of CAs want a one-stop shop to reset post COVID-19 and members need to be able to provide strategic advice without the need for an AFSL
Clients particularly want single-issue advice on contributions to and pensions from superannuation, as well as advice on the establishment or wind-up of an SMSF

CA ANZ has long advocated for industry reform to ensure that more consumers are able to access good quality, ethical and professional financial advice. We are committed to helping the industry reset, move forward and fix a system that is clearly ‘broken’.

In our recent submission to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) on CP 332: Promoting access to affordable advice for consumers, we strongly encouraged our members to participate in ASIC’s survey and highlighted key concerns that if interim and longer-term solutions are not implemented, many of our members will leave the financial advice industry on or soon after 30 June 2021, and that would be a considerable loss for everyday Australians who need financial advice.

A common barrier that our members have faced is an inability to provide advice under a strategic advice umbrella as they require licensing, and the risks and costs of licensing for our members to provide single topic, single issues of strategic advice are too high. In our submission to ASIC, we pointed out the most sought-after topic areas clients continually seek advice from our members, as outlined in the table below.

	Contributions to that existing fund	Pensions from that existing fund	Appropriateness of establishment or wind-up of that fund
Superannuation fund (but not an SMSF)	Yes	Yes	No, as this is product advice – should require an AFSL
SMSF	Yes	Yes	Yes, as this is a trust structure and structural advice should not require an AFSL

Day in, day out, clients of our members are asking for a one-stop shop to help them to reset their post COVID-19 financial recovery strategy. Our members need to be able to provide strategic advice including single issue (limited) superannuation advice, for which they are highly qualified to do, without the need for an AFSL.