FASEA fallout: What the industry is telling me (and it ain’t pretty!)

Thanks to everyone who’s got in touch over the past week since I got my FASEA pass result. The response from clients, advisers, business leaders and political figures has been enormous.
 
It’s also revealed a strong negative sentiment from some in the industry about this compliance process.
 
To give you a taste of some of the feedback I’ve received in the past week, I’ve included some of the (de-identified) comments here:

  • “This exam is of no benefit to the financial services industry. A waste of time and money and sadly a loss for the clients of older advisers who are leaving.”
  • “After 17 years’ experience I have begun to tell my clients I am being kicked out of the industry because I couldn’t pass a this [BEEP!] ethics exam.”
  • “Scott, some advisers have spent their lives offering fantastic specialist advice and focus on shares or risk insurance. Imagine a 60-year-old specialist heart surgeon having to sit a GP exam – they would fail. Imagine a 55-year-old experienced commercial architect having to sit a residential house construction exam – they would fail. It makes no sense!”
  • “I passed but will not be completing my study, so in 4 years and 3 months from today I will no longer be an adviser. After 25 years of experience and at age 62 who would waste 4 years of their life just getting a piece of paper? I am sure I won’t be the only one (leaving).”


From the conversations I’ve had and from these messages, you can see that the discontent in the industry is coming from different people, at different levels of business, and for different reasons. Some are client focused, others business focused, and many focused on the extra pressure the process has put on them during the pandemic.

I can assure you the messages you have sent have been heard and your feelings and mine will be directed to the powers at be, as soon as I have the opportunity.

In other news, RBA Governor Phillip Low yesterday indicated that the RBA is certainly feeling optimistic about an economic recovery. They announced that they would continue with the plan to reduce to $4 billion from $5 billion its regular weekly purchases of government debt. They further stated that they expect the economy to be back to pre-pandemic levels by second half of next year.

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