Ms Abood wants adviser numbers to exceed 28,000 within 5 years

Speaking to Adviser Ratings, the CEO of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) Sarah Abood said she would like to see adviser numbers exceed 28,000 within the next five years.

While this would mean onboarding an additional 10,000 advisers, Ms Abood believes that by better articulating the benefits of a career in advice to both young people and career-changers, the profession could meet this target.

“Sometimes I worry that we air a lot of the negatives and talk a lot about what needs to change in the profession, and forget to highlight what’s great about being a financial planner and why we’re here in the first place,” she said.

Speaking to Adviser Ratings about her wishes for 2023, Ms Abood said she would like to see the adoption of a principles-based approach to the regulation of advice, one that recognises it as a profession.

The most important change, she explained, must be a reduction in the “complex, overlapping and contradictory regulations, codes and rules that now govern the provision of financial advice”.

Touching on the Quality of Advice Review (QAR), which was handed to the government on 16 December, Ms Abood said she hoped it could help achieve these changes.

Late last year, Ms Abood said the FPA “eagerly awaits” the findings by the Financial Services Minister and urged him to move quickly to reduce the regulatory burden advisers are under.

“The review is a critical opportunity to reduce the cost of providing advice in Australia and improve the ability of Australians to get access to high-quality professional financial advice,” said Sarah Abood.

She noted that the FPA’s members were encouraged by Michelle Levy’s recommendations made in the proposal paper earlier this year, including the more principles-based approach to regulating the provision of financial advice.