AIOFP announces client opportunity project

Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) executive director Peter Johnston said the two-year project will be officially launched at the association’s Canberra conference, which will be held from 29 November to 2 December.

“We will have three relationships to present with at least another two in early 2024,” Mr Johnston told members.

“The new entities will include super funds, corporates, boutique banks, another association, and the rural sector with a wide range of potential clients with different needs and resources seeking assistance.

“In this highly litigious world, we needed to present an environment where the risk of poor advice/product failure was mitigated giving confidence to facilitate our participation with their people. Fundamentally, they needed to be comfortable with the conditions.”

In order to meet this objective, Mr Johnston said there will be stringent requirements that advisers must conform with to participate in the initiative.

“The first is the adviser must meet the requirements of becoming a Certified Financial Strategist (CFS), and the second is respecting and only using products on a specifically tailored Approved Product List (APL) to the opportunity,” he said.

“The APLs will be constructed by three experienced AIOFP members who operate their own AFSL. If there are specific products you want included, they must be approved by the APL panel.

“The AIOFP role is to oversee the operations and deal directly with these entities who are essentially clients of the AIOFP.”

Mr Johnston added that members will have the option of only becoming a CFS designated adviser or they can participate in the private client adviser program to service the new client opportunities, while further information on the project will be announced at the conference in Canberra.

According to the AIOFP, the CFS designation was “specifically designed to select the ideal set of guidelines, standards, and environment to receive professional independent advice”.

Advisers must meet a range of conditions in order to be recognised as a CFS designated adviser. The first is to work for an independently owned financial practice to ensure there is no institutional ownership that could provide a conflict.

They must also charge on a fee-for-service basis, have access to filtered research facilities, hold a diploma of financial planning, and have a minimum of three years of experience as a financial adviser.