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Call for higher advice standard for SMSFs
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| John Hewison
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A financial planning company that focuses on the self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) sector has told the Cooper Review there is no need for radical change to the existing regulatory environment.
The company, Hewison and Associates, has claimed that rather than placing greater restrictions on SMSF investors, the focus should be on raising standards of advice and education for advisers to better manage risk in the sector.
Hewison and Associates chief executive John Hewison said the existing financial advice education requirements were too basic for areas as complex as self-managed super.
“The current minimum qualification for a financial planner, RG146 under the Financial Services Reform Act, can be obtained in as little as six weeks,” he said. “This level of education is obscenely low to be giving any type of financial advice, let alone advising in an area as complex as self-managed super, where specialist investment and regulatory knowledge is required.”
Hewison said he wanted to see the education standards for SMSF advice raised by introducing specialist education requirements, in addition to holding the Certified Financial Planner qualification, for any adviser providing guidance on SMSFs.
He said he also believed the current exemption that allows accountants to provide advice in relation to establishing a SMSF but not specific investment advice should be removed.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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