FASEA deadlines ‘rushed’, says Sanders

Speaking on a panel at the FSC Summit 2018, Dr Sanders – who was appointed as FASEA’s inaugural CEO before leaving to join Deloitte – said the biggest challenge facing the industry is not the new standards themselves, but the manner in which those standards are achieved.

“This is all happening at once, that’s the real issue,” he said.

“There’s exam preparation requirements from next year, there’s CPD requirements from next year, there’s degree qualification requirements from next year, and there’s a narrow window within which to deal that, so I do think that the ‘how’ needs to be given more time to develop and breathe.”

Mr Sanders said his “one suggestion” to advisers would be to speak to government about the timing of the new standards’ implementation.

“FASEA’s mandate is clear and I’m not here to in any way, shape or form criticise that and their deadlines are tight and they’re doing a very tough job, but in the face of that, my years and years of experience means we’d take it to government,” he said.

“Take that perspective to government and argue well, why don’t we change the dates, why don’t we give consideration to how long this takes to get the right outcome instead of a rushed outcome.

“It’s a consideration about giving options about when do these things get done and how do these things get done in a more constructive and appropriate way, because there’s a real sense of trying to get things done very quickly because the deadlines are very tight, and I think the danger in that is that we won’t get the outcome we’re looking for.”

Mr Sanders added that tight deadlines could prompt some advisers to make a reactionary decision to leave the industry, rather than “engaging and choosing what options are available to them”.

“That would be deeply saddening, and not the intent of the regime,” he said.