Roadshow poll indicates strong member support for FPA’s education standards proposals


The 2017 Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) National Roadshow has completed its 33-leg journey around Australia, with six final events taking place last week.

Financial planning professionals came together to listen to timely updates on policy and legislation from the FPA, as well as insights on identifying investment opportunities in global markets from Roadshow partner, Platinum Asset Management.

Dante De Gori CFP®, FPA CEO, said “After a period of uncertainty last year, the sentiment at this year’s roadshow was very much about implementation and taking action. The financial planning profession is in our own hands, and as a community, we are ready to forge ahead in establishing the future of our profession.”

The forthcoming education and professional standards legislation, and the proposals submitted to the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) by the FPA were a key area of focus at the roadshow.

Mr De Gori said FASEA will start establishing the details of the new professional standards and education framework for financial planners this month, ahead of the commencement of the legislation on January 1, 2019.

“The timeline for the new standards is a sensible approach that will enable financial planners the time to prepare, and undertake further study if necessary. We look forward to working with FASEA closely over the coming months as we will of course be supporting members through the transition period in every way we can.

According to Mr De Gori, the response from members to the FPA’s proposals has been very positive. “Out of a total of 843 respondents who took part in live polling, 84% of delegates agreed or strongly agreed with the FPA proposed 100-point framework. We have had some great feedback from those who attended, and as with all feedback, we are listening.

“Year after year, delegate feedback has been extremely positive, and this year is no different. We are still collating the feedback from the final events, and indication shows that 95% of attendees felt the roadshow was ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’. We have already many requests from delegates for the roadshow materials and we will be releasing them very soon.”

Next stop for the FPA is the FPA Professionals Congress to be held in Hobart from 22-24 November.