POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
(August-2004) Moving forward to IFSA’s Momentum
With Australia’s political parties in unmistakable campaign mode in the lead-up to the forthcoming federal election, the Investment and Financial Services Association’s (IFSA) Annual Conference on the Gold Coast this month has become a venue for both the Government and the Opposition to refine their policy positions.
The 2004 IFSA Annual Conference has been dubbed ‘Momentum’ reflecting not only the ongoing changes occurring within the financial services arena, but the sector’s efforts to move beyond some of the more controversial issues which dogged it through 2003-04.
But political policies, as much as regulatory change, will dominate IFSA — something which is clearly indicated by the make-up of the Conference program.
Indeed, politics, or at least, politicians, will both begin and end the conference.
Day one will see the Opposition spokesman on Retirement Incomes and Savings, Senator Nick Sherry, and the Opposition spokes-man on Financial Services, Senator Stephen Conroy, addressing the conference on Labor’s policy approach.
On day three, the closing session will see the Assistant Treasurer, Mal Brough, outline the Government’s approach at a luncheon at which she will also present the first IFSA Industry Excellence Awards.
Also on day three, the Australian Democrats spokesperson on Superannuation, Senator John Cherry, will address a concurrent session on the issue of choice of fund, titled “Choice and the Consumer — a Democrat perspective”.
IFSA chief executive Richard Gilbert says the decision to tag this year’s conference ‘IFSA Momentum’ is based not so much on the continuing to work through the evolving regulatory environment but on moving beyond many of the challenges and negatives which confronted the industry last year.
“Viewed in military terms, it amounts to marshalling the troops and moving forward,” he says.
And if one thing will differentiate this year’s IFSA conference from previous years, it is probably that the main speakers are definitively Australian.
Indeed, Gilbert is proud of the fact that the keynote speakers, John Bowers and Meredith Brooks, represent two of the best-known and well-respected Australian ex-pats in the funds management industry.
Bowers is, of course, the managing director, global advanced active products with Barclays Global Investors, while Brooks is the head of institutional business with Frank Russell.
Gilbert says that in past years, there have been suggestions that perhaps there was too much emphasis on speakers from the US and the presence of Bowers and Brooks — as two people at the top of their game — gives a genuine Australian flavour.
Gilbert makes no bones about the fact that, in formulating the conference agenda, he was conscious of the political time-table.
He acknowledges this is reflected in the presence of the major political parties in the form of the Assistant Treasurer, Helen Coonan, the Opposition’s two senior financial services and retirement incomes spokesmen, Sherry and Conroy and the Australian Democrats’ Cherry.
And while Gilbert acknowledges that both the major parties have placed many of their policy cards on the table, he does not rule out the notion of the IFSA conference becoming a venue for ongoing important policy announcements.
However, while politics may be a feature of the opening and closing sessions, momentum and the impact of the changing regulatory landscape is certainly a part of the concurrent sessions with addresses scheduled from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
In fact, regulation represents the starting point for the concurrent sessions on each day of the conference.
Importantly, the contributions of the ATO and the two regulators will seek to update delegates on how various elements of the new regulatory environment are evolving, with ASIC’s executive director, financial services regulation, Ian Johnston, explaining how product disclosure documents are shaping up.
APRA’s deputy chairman, Ross Jones, will be looking at the entire question of superannuation safety in the context of recent actions undertaken by APRA.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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