‘Too much of a regulatory burden’: Industry calls for collaboration ‘to solve advice accessibility challenge’

HUB24 and XY Adviser have teamed up to produce a new documentary which calls for “affirmative action” to ensure Australians can access professional financial advice.

The documentary out now - which features industry leaders and advisers including Financial Services Council CEO Blake Briggs, Investment Trends CEO Sarah Brennan and Money Mentor’s Adele Martin – advocates that cost and the decreasing number of advisers in Australia, combined with the “complex regulatory environment”, as challenges for Australians getting quality advice.

“Without good financial advice, Australians miss out on the opportunity to plan for tomorrow, to have peace of mind, financial security and financial freedom,” HUB24 CEO Andrew Alcock said.

“We really need to consider, with the complexity of the environment we are in and all of the regulations and compliance, are we actually preparing Australians for the future?” 

He continued: “There is an amazing opportunity to build the foundations of the future, and leverage data and technology to reduce friction for licensees, advisers and customers to empower better financial futures for more Australians.”

The new documentary comes after Peter Johnston, executive director of the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professional (AIOFP), called for the new Albanese government to act quickly on some key issues, including the “compliance regime”.

“Minimum 50 per cent needs to be wiped out,” Mr Johnston said on the latest episode of the ifa Show podcast.

“It could be done in a day. It doesn’t have to go on for months and months and months with bureaucrats. It should be people from the industry – people from AFCA representing consumers and people from ASIC. They could sit in a room in an afternoon and point out all the stuff which is just ridiculously useless and just get rid of it.”

Listen to the full podcast with Mr Johnston 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.