moneyGPS is part of the Fiduciary’s Advice family. Fiduciary’s systems comply with the current best practices of Australia’s regulatory guidelines and shall continue to evolve in response to any changes.
The regulatory landscape has become increasingly more cumbersome and costly for advice providers this year - we expect this trend to continue.
The cost of providing advice has increased as a result of a price point that is not affordable for 80% of working Australians, nor is it commercially viable for traditional providers to offer it to this segment.
Regulatory enforcement by ASIC has received a substantial boost since the Royal Commission with the support of the Federal Government.
AFSL licensees need to ‘meet and exceed’ ASIC’s advice requirements to remain in the game. In particular, they need to pay special attention to their ‘best interest duty’ and ‘appropriateness’ obligations when providing financial advice whether it be for superannuation consolidation or a mortgage refinancing to:
Explain to the client from the outset the scope of the advice (i.e. what advice is being offered and not);
Require the client to actively demonstrate that the advice they are seeking is within the scope of what is being offered by the advice model;
At critical points in the advice process, inform the client about the limitations and potential consequences of the scope of advice;
Throughout the advice process, notify the client of key concepts and the relevant risks and benefits associated with the advice being provided;
Filter out clients for whom the advice offered is not appropriate, or who want advice on a topic outside of the scope;
Inform the client about the upfront and ongoing costs of the advice before the advice is given or implemented;
Inform the client about how they can withdraw from the advice being provided, and any associated costs, before the advice is implemented;
Explain what dispute resolution processes are available to the client if they wish to make a complaint; and
Explain why the client is likely to be in a better position if they follow the advice.
