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The landscape for financial planner education must change
19 November 2009
The FPA today outlined its expectations for the education requirements of professional financial planners, stating that education is the last piece in the FPA’s professional framework to be reviewed.
“The FPA no longer has confidence in the barriers to entry for financial planning and wants a dramatic shakeup of the education expectations for professional financial planners,” FPA CEO Jo-Anne Bloch stated today at the FPA’s Annual Conference in Melbourne.
“The government and the industry have been dancing around this issue for too long. Our members are frustrated that too many authorised representatives simply complete government mandated education and training requirements described in the current model of RG146 and then call themselves a financial planner.”
Consumers, industry and the profession have lost confidence in the way RG146 has been applied to determine the entry level for our profession.
To ensure confidence in the education and capability of Australia’s financial planners the FPA believes that we need to rethink our education and assessment approach. This will require lifting our standards of entry and ongoing education, and align education with professional achievement.
To encourage debate on this very important subject the FPA has today released a consultation paper which should spark a discussion across the entire community. The FPA has set out 6 expectations that would reset the education framework for financial planning:
- By 2015 we would like all new entrants who want to become professional financial planners to have as a minimum a tertiary qualification in financial planning.
- By 2012 we would like to have developed with the education sector a commonly recognised curriculum for financial planning based on the Financial Planning Standards Board curriculum topics.
- We want to work with ASIC, the government and the profession to develop an objective assessment mechanism that instils confidence in financial planner entry competence.
- By 2012 we would like all newly qualified financial planners to have undertaken at least one year of full time supervised work in client facing activity following their formal tertiary qualifications, before being able to hold themselves out as a financial planner.
- By 2012 we would like to see all education programs providing a clear entry pathway to professional designation.
- By 2011 we expect that all Continuing Professional Development (CPD) should include mandatory training in ethics, and we call on Australian Financial Services Licensees to dedicate resources and attention to the supervision of CPD to ensure it focuses on professional alignment, rather than simply compliance with RG 146.
The FPA will achieve the above with the establishment of a high level Education Council comprising industry, education and other stakeholders who have a keen interest in a strong and credible education framework for Australian financial planners that responds to global professional expectations.
“Our consultation paper sets out a very broad set of ambitions, and is intended to generate conversation and positive debate. We encourage the industry and stakeholder community to read through the detailed arguments set out in the paper and challenge everyone to be innovative and visionary in setting out their responses and feedback,” Ms Bloch added.
For further information, refer to media contacts
Note to journalists
The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) is the peak professional body for financial planning in Australia. The FPA has an office in each capital city and a network of 31 Chapters across the country, which provide a focus for business networking and professional development activities for more than 12,000 members. FPA practitioner members manage the financial affairs of more than 5 million Australians whose investments are valued at $630 billion.
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