FAAA boasts powerful voice in Canberra, welcomed by Minister Jones

The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) will represent around 12,000 members or 60 per cent of the Financial Advisers Register (FAR), chair David Sharpe said.

Speaking at an FAAA roadshow, Mr Sharpe said that excluding stockbrokers listed on the FAR, the FAAA will actually represent “far north of 60 per cent” of financial advisers and stressed the power of that “single, loud voice” in Canberra.

This unified voice was also applauded by Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones who delivered a pre-recorded message at the roadshow.

In it, Mr Jones said the FAAA’s “successful merger” meant it now had a “strong” voice representing advisers throughout the country.

“There are around 5 million Australians who are either at or approaching retirement, they need access to good quality advice and information to guide them on that pathway. You’ve got a key role in doing that,” the minister said.

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) legally completed their merger to form the FAAA on 3 April.

Mr Sharpe confirmed on Monday that the majority of the FAAA board would consist of practitioners, noting that the requirement is embedded in the association’s constitution.

He also reiterated that the FAAA would not represent product providers, licensees, insurance providers, superannuation funds, or technology providers.

“We of course acknowledge that these are really important stakeholders for you, and so sometimes when we have advocacy efforts we do so jointly, but we do so when our interests align,” Mr Sharpe explained.

Touching on recent news, as reported by ifa, that the Flight Attendants Association of Australia had issued a written notice to the Financial Advice Association Australia regarding the latter’s intention to register the acronym FAAA as a trademark, Mr Sharpe assured that he was not “concerned”.

“The heritage FPA, for the 30 years it was around, I don’t think I was questioned fire safety, because we coexisted with the Fire Protection Authority, we coexisted with the Family Planning Association, and I certainly wasn’t asked about any help in that scenario. So, I’m pretty sure we can co-exist. I’m not too concerned,” Mr Sharpe elaborated.

Namely, earlier this month, the legal representative of the Flight Attendants Association, Turon Legal’s Arwed Turon, emailed a letter to the chief executive officer of the recently merged advice association, informing her of his client’s intention to oppose the trademark bid.

In the letter, seen by ifa, the legal representative argued that the Flight Attendants Association of Australia has been using the acronym FAAA since its inception on 1 June 1992.

Speaking to ifa at the time, the CEO of the Financial Advice Association, Sarah Abood, confirmed the group had received the letter.

“The Flight Attendants Association have let us know that they intend to oppose our application to trademark the ‘FAAA’ acronym, which is currently not trademarked,” Ms Abood said.

“We intend to work with them to help resolve their concerns.”

At the time of its official merger, the FAAA revealed its new logo, which was created following a comprehensive consultation with its members. Central to the logo design are the three “A’s” of the name represented as three speech bubbles, to symbolise its voice in dialogue with key stakeholders.