The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) says competence obtained by financial advisers through experience should be better recognised in the financial adviser education standards. However, it recommends the Australian Government not implement an experience exemption to the education framework.
In its submission to Treasury on adviser education standards, the association says that while it shares the Government’s goal of making financial advice more affordable and accessible to Australian consumers, it believes that “…simply providing an experience pathway alone is not going to achieve a reduction in the cost to produce advice”.
In a statement the FPA says that if Government proceeds with an experience pathway as proposed, it recommends the following requirements be met:
- 10 years of relevant licensed experience between 1 January 2004 and 1 January 2019
- A clean record
- A statutory declaration
- Either membership of a professional association or the completion of an approved ethics course
- A 10 year sunset period
The FPA believes “…unassessed experience alone is an insufficient foundation to meet the objectives of raising the minimum education requirements for professional financial advice providers and continuing to build consumer confidence in the profession”.
…55% of FPA members have already completed their required education and 35% are on track to meet the existing education standards…
A survey of FPA members on the proposed modifications found 55% have already completed their required education, and 35% are on track to meet the existing education standards.
Of those surveyed:
- 71% of members meet the proposed experience pathway
- 55% oppose the introduction of the proposed experience pathway
- 73% would only support an experience pathway if there was a sunset introduced
Read the full report: No Experience Exemption to Education Framework – FPA