‘How many politicians have a financial adviser?’

On the latest episode of the ifa Show, Helen Baker echoed comments by others in the industry that the current education requirements must be addressed in government’s Education Standards for Financial Advisers policy paper, as well as the mental health of financial advisers.

But Ms Baker went one step further.

“I’m going to put myself out on a limb here. I’d love to ask how many politicians have a financial adviser? How many of them actually have their own advisers, so they actually have an experience that is hopefully a great experience that they can apply?” she said.

“Because I don’t know if they do. I wonder if they’re in that camp that just thinks, ‘Oh, all they are is sales people and they sell an investment for commission.’ Or whether they’ve actually had an experience that has dealt with some life event issue, good or bad, and they’ve seen the benefits that it adds, or they can see where they are now compared to where they would be without that advice.”

Ms Baker argued that any politician who has or does have good experiences with a financial adviser should be championing the industry and “leading the charge”.

“[Politicians should be] actually advocating for how great it is to get financial advice and doing their best to get it,” she said.

Listen to the full episode with Ms Baker here.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.