SMSF Association Submission – Financial Adviser Education Standards

SMSF Association Submission

The SMSF Association welcomes the opportunity to provide this submission in response to the Government’s Financial Advisers Education Standards consultation paper. Two essential elements of the Association’s mission are professionalism and integrity. This is underpinned by our core beliefs which includes education and accreditation for advisers operating in the SMSF sector.

The adoption of an experience only pathway to satisfy the education requirements does not meet the original policy intent of enhancing professional standards and moving financial advisory services towards becoming a true profession.

We acknowledge the concern surrounding declining financial adviser numbers and the importance of retaining experienced financial advisers in the industry. However, a model, such as the one proposed, would not have been needed were a more consultative approach taken with industry and appropriate model introduced from the outset. We remain optimistic, noting that there is still a window of opportunity within which to adopt more appropriate settings whilst achieving the desired outcome.

Financial Adviser Education Standards

SMSF Association Submission