Blog
“We wanted incremental improvement, now we’re transforming our business”
A well regarded self-licensed business wanted to know where their gaps were so they could make incremental improvements. With a Tangelo AFSL Gap Assessment and Action plan, they got motivated to transform their business.
Are you one of the 89% of the Licensee population who hasn’t lodged a breach report to ASIC?
ASIC’s Report 775 released on 31 October shows that only 11% of licensees have lodged a report. This is a surprisingly low number and suggests that some licensees may not have in place the systems and processes required to detect and report breaches. Do you?
7 deadly sins and the advice process
What do the Seven Deadly Sins have in common with the Advice Processes? We explored the common sins we see causing ineffective advice processes and what businesses should be focusing on.
Government announces QAR response
Conrad Travers shares his thoughts about Minister Stephen Jones today’s announcements in mid June 2023 regarding the government’s response to the Quality of Advice Review (QAR).
A summary of the government’s response; assuming this passes the legislative process:
Safe harbour removed from BID.
Ongoing fee renewal (FDS) removed and fee consent to be consolidated in one industry wide form.
SOA replaced with "fit for purpose" advice record
Wholesale warnings to come in
Consent requirements for life, general and CCI
“I need technology to solve inefficiencies…I think?”
We worked with a fantastic one adviser practice struggling with advice process, documentation and the value provided for clients.
Attempts to get guidance from their licensee and turning to a technology solution to generate filenotes quicker failed, as neither option was customised nor getting to the root of their problems.
Case study: Help us to simplify compliance
A mid-tier licensee not sure where to start got a simplified compliance approach, 40% improved paraplanning turnaround and an uptick in adviser engagement
Get to the point - clear advice will win out
Tangelo Advice Consulting’s Conrad Travers was quoted in Professional Planner’s coverage of the Quality of Advice Review discussion at the FAAA’s 2023 United Association Roadshow in May 2023.
Tangelo Advice Consulting principal consultant Conrad Travers predicted licensees would adapt and lift the supervision and monitoring frameworks in place to make sure the advice being given is clear. “I would recommend for new clients, even if they don’t ask for it, to give them a simple summary of the advice,” Travers said. “That could be five pages and make the advice really clear – what are you recommending and what are the next steps to the client. Beneath that, cover off the additional scenarios that you might have considered just in summary format, then the risks and the fees. If you do that, that’s best interest.”
Joint submission to the Quality Advice Review
We welcome the opportunity to provide feedback on the Quality of Advice Proposals Paper published on the Treasury website 29 August 2022. As an overall comment, our three companies are committed supporters of a well-functioning financial advice industry and see the proposal as a significant step forward in terms of encouraging autonomy and professionalism in our industry.
Tangelo’s submission for CP 332 - Promoting access to affordable advice for consumers
Tangelo has made a submission to the CP 332 - Promoting access to affordable advice for consumers ASIC consultation. Working across the industry, on behalf of a variety of clients, we have strong views on what should be done to make high quality advice available to all Australians who need it.
Structural rethink needed for advice industry
One of the interesting insights to come out of the ‘How to Regulate Advice session at Professional Planner’s Best Practice Forum was ASIC’s assessment that licensees themselves were being too conservative around policy guidance. That is, it was observed that licensees were going far beyond ASIC’s guidance, which in some circumstances had been to the detriment of scaled advice.
Mind the gap: Every Licensee has its compliance shortcomings
Over the past year, one of my clearest take outs from consulting to licensees and practices regarding compliance is that it’s almost never actually about “compliance”
Conrad Travers writes in Professional Planner
Prepare for ASIC to focus on small end of town
Businesses need to plan for the fact that ASIC could come into their business. Explaining something away or saying “I haven’t done that sorry” no longer cuts it when you run a licensee. If they do come in, they are not going to worry about how you feel.
A fence at the top of the hill: changing how we think about “compliance”
Perspective is a powerful thing. Ask a financial adviser about “compliance” and you’re likely to get a grimace, a shrug or some kind of grunt. This is largely because compliance as we know it has been built and framed the wrong way.
Watch the knee-jerk when thinking about self-licensing
Make sure you understand all the risks and costs of self-licensing. A common view is that the cost to go self-licensed is minimal and there are players out there to help with the application and the outsourced services, particularly compliance. While this is true to a certain extent, my view is that it excludes some pretty important considerations.