The Forgotten will not Forget

Dear Parliamentarian, as a follow up to our last email regarding the thousands of FORGOTTEN and ill – treated Advisers at the hands of this Government, we wish to put forward our summation of what their agenda has been from December 23rd 2014 until present day – please note, this date was the day when the now Treasurer was appointed Minister for Financial Services.

We hope this will put some perspective around the issues we have raised over the past 8 or so years when observing the Governments conduct and why long – term ‘rusted on’ Liberal voters are looking for other options.

This brief summation is based on Legislative outcomes and anecdotal evidence from Advisers personal experience, please consider the following –

• Ever since the GFC times in 2008, it has been a global trend for Financial Institutions to install digital advice solutions for their customers with mixed success. It was clear this was on the Australian Institutional agenda via the Financial Services Council [FSC] in 2014 and based on the recent Minister Hume’s appointed ‘Michelle Levy interview’, it is still being very much sort after despite the Royal Commission setback for the Institutional sector.
• The implementation of digital advice unfortunately means the human Adviser is removed from the consumer relationship. This process commenced with the Government introducing the LIFE INSURANCE FRAMEWORK [LIF] and FINANCIAL ADVISER STANDARDS & ETHICS AUTHORITY [FASEA] legislation into Parliament.
• This legislation initially seemed appropriate in theory but the intent quickly surfaced, it was designed to starve and intimidate Advisers out of the industry.
• Driven by the FSC, FPA and AFA assisting then Minister Kelly O’Dywer to sweep it through both Houses of Parliament it was readily passed with no objection. Unfortunately, most Politicians had a jaundiced and unfair view of our industry at the time, but this no longer exists we are pleased to say.
• To further torment Advisers and their clients, the Government introduced other compliance – based legislation that escalated the cost of Advice with duplicated and draconian measures, something consumers ultimately paid for via higher advice fees.
• It has became very clear that this Government wanted to increase the cost of Advice to such a level that it was unaffordable for 90% of consumers and therefore the conflicted Digital advice solutions could be justified and implemented. To support their objective, ‘killing off’ thousands of Advisers thus creating a deficit of capability also worked in their favor.
• Enter Commissioner Hayne who lambasted the Institutions for their poor management culture and they departed the industry after paying out hundreds of millions in compensation to alive and dead consumers they had cheated with the fee for no service fiasco. It should be pointed out this was implemented by Management NOT in house Advisers.
• Who can forget Comm. Hayne’s refusal to shake the Treasurer’s hand when the Final RC Report was handed over on 3/2/2019…..perhaps it had been unwelcomely edited some may say?
• Don’t feel ‘sorry’ for the Institutions, they were handsomely compensated when they influenced the banning of the Grandfathered revenue billions thanks to the RC that largely went back to the Institutions from the Adviser and the consumer generally missed out. This was the revenue that supplemented Advice delivery to clients from Advisers that ironically the client now pays for or cannot afford to pay and gets no advice. As they say, the consumer ultimately pays for every poor political decision.
• Recently Minister Hume appointed Allens partner Michelle Levy under the disguise of ‘Reviewing the Quality of Advice’ but Ms Levy was too honest in an recent interview stating her brief was to find a pathway for Institutions to re – enter the Advice space with digital solutions. Minister Hume is now scrambling to readjust the narrative/objectives of the Review…..trust however has been lost.

Summary

The only conclusion we can come to is the FSC/FPA/AFA cooperated with the Government post 2014 to deliberately drive up the cost of advice for consumers and subsequently remove Advisers from the industry via legislative instruments. Today’s environment of high-cost advice and dwindling Adviser numbers is the Government’s utopia to please their donors/supporters and justify digital advice solutions.

In this process the Government treated the Advice community with such unfair brutality resulting in numerous suicides and a widespread mental health dilemma that has bewildered the industry.

Furthermore, the Government has forced 4 million consumers to either pay thousands more in advice fees each over the past 6 years or they cannot afford to see their Adviser, such unconscionable selfish conduct is displayed by this Government.

It is about time the political donation culture is eradicated to eliminate the profoundly conflicted positions Political parties find themselves with.

In this instance Billions of Grandfathered revenue was removed from the Consumer/Adviser commercial relationship in favor of the Institutional lobby who donated a fraction of the quantum to achieve this outcome.

The Forgotten will not forget how to vote at the upcoming election…..and will be encouraged to put their least liked party LAST on the ballot.

Please review the attached video from September 2021: