The new service, Lifespan Partnership, will cater to both current self-licensees or aspiring self-licensees who prefer the freedom of individual licensing but also understand that a level of support, tailored to their needs is invaluable in today’s ever-changing industry, according to a statement.
Lifespan said its support services are grouped into four modules, comprising: virtual services; practice consultancy; compliance; and education and training. The modules can be mixed and matched according to each individual self-licensee’s needs.
The modules are also available as pre-packaged bundles designed to suit a self-licensee’s typical life stage, Lifespan said.
As an example, it said more experienced self-licensees would typically require less formalised support, whereas a newly established self-licensee would typically require full support to guide them through the earlier stages of their AFSL journey.
The offering also includes a ‘Partnership Program’, which comprises around 40 peripheral service providers supplying services that pertain to either AFSL obligations or those that promote operational efficiency.
These include services such as SOA software generation through to paraplanning, marketing and investment consulting, Lifespan said.
Lifespan chief executive Eugene Ardino said the creation of Lifespan Partnership was prompted by the increase in demand for individual licensing in the wake of the Hayne royal commission.
“We experienced a marked increase in interest for individual licensing across 2019. The greater degree of freedom that it allows is certainly appealing for many advisers, but we recognised an opportunity to add to that proposition by offering the security and convenience of best-of-breed ancillary services,” Mr Ardino said.
Lifespan national practice consultant Jill Tunkin will head Lifespan Partnership. She said the design of the support services was based on the many discussions she had with self-licensees over past years.
“The advisers I spoke to invariably voiced their desire for services that suited their individual needs and preferences,” Ms Tunkin said.
“They wanted a vast network of peripheral services and contacts to be provided at their fingertips and an engagement level that they wanted to control. So, I have endeavoured to provide this in the Lifespan Partnership offering.”
Many of these advisers want to be self licensed because they do not wish to adhere to the strict requirements the higher quality AFSL’s provide. Ardino is an adviser, a licensee , and now a third party provider of services, very odd, which master is his king?
This quote is damning
As an example, it said more experienced self-licensees would typically require less formalised support, whereas a newly established self-licensee would typically require full support to guide them through the earlier stages of their AFSL journey.
If they don’t know how to be a licensee they should not be a licensee but an adviser only.
The licensee and the adviser should be seperated and not be the same person for the good of the industry.
This has to be the way of the future for dealer groups. They have a valuable role to play in providing support services for advisers, but the “authorised representative” concept is unsustainable from a compliance perspective. If Hayne or the government had any sense they would have just put an end to “authorised representatives”, and in so doing removed a huge unnecessary layer of compliance and complexity.
Unfortunately Hayne/Orr/Hodge/Costello have a vested interest in increasing legal complexity, not reducing it. Hence 72 new regulations that make things more complex was favoured over a much smaller number of changes that could have made things simpler and delivered better outcomes for consumers.
It did seem to be the enormous elephant in the room that was waving it’s trunk right in front of the RC. It goes to show had little feel Hayne and Co had about where the key industry issues lay. I dread to think what a bushfire RC is going to come up with. No doubt so much red tape that the volunteer firefighters will walk away and the problems will just be made worse.