The Profession of Independent Financial Advisers guides Australians on how to find financial advisers who practice without incentive and without conflicts. It also educates and promotes the Gold Standard of Independence™ for financial advisers in Australia. In 2009, our industry’s regulator, the ASIC, made a submission to government that was designed to restore investor confidence in the financial markets and protect retail investors. The ASIC went on record saying that the typical financial planner acts as a “sales force for financial product manufacturers” and that advisers are “a product pipeline”. Eighty-five per cent of financial planners are associated with a product manufacturer, who are paid by commission or asset fees (commissions by another name). The ASIC says these commissions and product affiliations are conflicts of interest which “distort the quality of advice” and should be banned. The leading consumer advocacy group in Australia, CHOICE, is lobbying for the same thing.
