MenuThe Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) released its 2019/20 Annual Report on Friday 30 October, 2020.
FPA Chief Executive Officer Dante De Gori CFP® commented:
The past 12 months have been defined by the courage and commitment of FPA members to overcome significant adversity. Our members have remained resilient in the face of ongoing regulatory pressure, new education requirements, natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the challenges we share as a profession, and as Australians, have brought us closer together. These difficulties have strengthened our resolve and also highlighted the important role of financial planning in the lives of Australians.
This year we welcomed 1,090 new members to the FPA and are proud to have a total of 13,189 members in our Association.
While FPA member numbers decreased by 6.6 per cent year-on-year, this is in line with expectations and in context of several factors impacting the financial planning profession.
Significant industry reform from the Financial Services Royal Commission, new FASEA standards, and changes to business models and financial planner numbers by a number of large Australian Financial Services Licensees, have caused a significant number of financial planners to leave the profession. This has been reflected by an approximate 15 per cent reduction in financial advisers listed on ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register (FAR) from June 2019 to June 2020. We expect this to continue to affect FPA member numbers and the wider financial planner population over the coming year.
However, against this challenging backdrop the FPA is building a brighter future for financial planning. This year we unveiled a new strategic direction to support the growth of the profession, restructuring to better service members and embarking on a new five-year strategic plan to secure the future of financial planning in Australia.
We also put in place on our new policy roadmap, Affordable Advice, Sustainable Profession, guiding our advocacy with government, regulators and other key stakeholders.
The FPA is more committed than ever to delivering the support financial planners need to build successful businesses so they can support the ever-changing needs of their clients in these uncertain times.
