AFA urges private talks on 'churn'

The Financial Services Council has softened its rhetoric on the issue in recent weeks, after backing down on its original proposal to self-regulate.

Discussing the minutes of a recent AFA board meeting, AFA president Michael Nowak told ifa that it was important to get an outcome “everybody is happy with” – especially given the time pressures and changes advisers have had to cope with under the Future of Financial Advice reforms.

“I think it's sub-optimal to have a discussion that is to-ing and fro-ing in the media on this. Ideally we should be able to all sit down and talk and come up with a resolution,” said Mr Nowak.

But first, there must be some evidence produced to show there is a problem, he said.

“If things do need to change, then let's have a discussion about it, but before we can do anything we need to see that there are issues,” he said.

Advisers were justifiably upset when the issue was initially portrayed as a 'churn' issue, Mr Nowak, added.

“Advisers are upset, and rightly so,” he said. “They need to see some evidence. They just want to be heard, and to make sure they're in this discussion.”