AFA News 30 October 2020. The Regulators panel was one of the most highly rated sessions on day one of the virtual conference. Aleks Vickovich, from the Australian Financial Review, who facilitated the session, summarised the key theme of the panel discussion as a “Conciliatory tone”, describing how the regulators on the panel openly acknowledged the important work that financial advisers have been doing and discussed what they have done this year to relieve some of the pressure on financial advisers. Aleks was joined by Kate Metz, Senior Executive Leader, Financial Advisers at ASIC, Stephen Glenfield, CEO FASEA and Natalie Cameron, Lead Ombudsman, Investments and Advice at AFCA.
Not only did this session give us some insight into the thinking of these key organisations, however, it also included an update on some important work that they are doing. Kate Metz spoke openly about some of the key issues in financial advice and also about the work that they are currently doing as part of the 2021 review of life insurance advice, including the collection of client files from 2017, to provide a baseline result for comparison purposes. Stephen Glenfield discussed the recently released draft guidance on the FASEA Code of Ethics and how it had been built to explain the intent of the standards and assist in understanding how to apply them. Stephen spoke about the Code as being an ethical overlay and not a checklist and that it was a longer-term exercise that will play out over time. Natalie Cameron advised that financial advice complaints make up less than 2% of AFCA’s complaints and that only 10% of these complaints go all the way through to a determination.
The Regulators panel was a very useful session, with each panel member demonstrating their unique insight into the financial advice market.
Members wishing to watch the Regulator Panel (and who have not previously registered for conference) can register for the on-demand conference content at a reduced rate by visiting the conference website here.
Issued 30.10.2020. AFA News
