'I've lived and breathed this stuff': Levy hits back at QAR appointment criticism

Michelle Levy has hit back at criticism of her appointment as reviewer of the Quality of Advice Review (QAR) during an appearance on the ifa Show podcast this week.

Following the announcement in March, many backed the move to appoint the Allens partner, while others advocated that someone actively working in financial advice should be taking on the task.

However, Ms Levy said being a lawyer and working in the regulation of financial services makes her a suitable choice to assess how the regulatory framework could deliver better outcomes for consumers.

"I've lived and breathed this stuff, I suppose, since it's inception," Ms Levy said.

"The review is a review of the regulatory framework... and I think I have a really good understanding of the industry and what I hadn't known before, I've learned because I've had so many conversations with dozens and dozens of people. So it's been terrific."

Ms Levy said that the QAR will look at how the law applies, so a deep knowledge of the regime is "fundamental". As well as this, she suggested that there is "a lot of misunderstanding" about how the law and regulatory framework work together.

"I don't think that the industry is foreign to me. And then finally the industry itself is extremely diverse," she said.

"So to have pulled, for example, a very experienced financial adviser will have left people in superannuation funds in banks and insurers saying: 'Well, why them? What about us?

"So I think that's another really important thing to remember in thinking about this review. It's not just about financial advisers giving advice. It's about the whole ecosystem."

On the same episode of the podcast, Ms Levy agreed that the local financial advice industry has been subject to a perceived “overregulation” in recent years and argued that “tinkering” with some of the reforms won’t make much of a difference and instead said that “quite significant changes” will need to be made to how financial advice and the provision of advice are regulated.

The QAR garnered a large number of submissions, with the likes of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) dubbing it the industry’s “biggest hope”.

Most recently, key groups including the AFA, FPA, FSC, SIAA, The Adviser Association and CAANZ united in a joint submission to call for a more consumer-focused regulatory approach and reduced costs.

The QAR is set for release on 16 December.

Listen to the full podcast with Ms Levy 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.