Advisers must drive the development of their profession

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

23 September 2022

Financial advisers need to be closely involved in shaping financial planning into a profession comparable to professions such law and medicine.

In an academic paper published in the International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, financial adviser, Ben Neilson revealed the outcome of a survey of 1,127 financial advisers before concluding that they needed to be intimately involved in the development of a profession.

“It is imperative that Australian financial advisers, offering professional input, commit to being involved in shaping the professional policies, governance, processes, so that financial planning becomes a true profession run by advisers, like other established professions run theirs,” he said.

Neilson’s research suggested that while financial planning is well on its way to becoming a recognised profession with advisers already adopting many of the appropriate attributes, there is still some way to go.

The research pointed to progress among respondents with respect to professional attributes, but noted particular progress with respect to ethical attributes.

“Responses to education, client  focus, remuneration,  ethical direction and conflicts each showed significant mean increase. Approach to ethical responsibility allow actions to align in accordance with their professional obligations and meet their ethical expectations,” Neilson wrote.

“Financial advisers now show significant confidence in their ability to navigate ethical areas and can rely on their code of ethics to determine conduct as a basis for navigation and decision-making,” he said.

The research also noted that its results suggested that financial advisers acknowledge they hold professional authority derived from a dependent relationship, industry knowledge and trust due to complexity.