FPA issues new tools for video SOAs

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist

4 July 2022

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has released a suite of new tools designed to assist members with the creation of video Statements of Advice (SOAs) for clients that are compliant with regulation.

The Statement of Advice Project (SOAP) Box Set is a series of 14 videos that coach financial planners on how to create SOAs in video format, reducing compliance costs and increasing efficiency and quality of advice.

The instructional videos cover topics including how to create videos of advice meetings which can double as an SOA and provide real-life examples of video SOAs for scenarios including pre-retirement planning and life risk advice.

The SOAP Box Set also features discussions with the FPA’s Head of Policy, Strategy and Innovation, Ben Marshan, and The Cyber Collective Australia founder, Fraser Jack.

“A lot of what drives up the cost of financial advice is the amount of background work, information investigation and time spent by the financial planner on what is required to be included in the SOA,” Sarah Abood, CEO of the FPA.

“Not only that, the SOA ends up becoming a document that clients find difficult to read and ends up clouding the actual advice being given to them. Any efforts made to make advice more efficient and usable by clients is a critical step forward for the profession.

“Through the SOAP Box Set, Ben and Fraser have put in an incredible amount of work towards making this a reality and speaks to their tireless passion in making advice more accessible and affordable for clients.”

Marshan said the videos will help financial planners to update advice processes and requirements, especially after videoconferencing became the norm due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are still seeing financial planners put together paper-based SOAs that stretch between 80 to 100 pages long,” he said.

“The idea behind the Statement of Advice Project is to push the boundaries of finding the most effective way of providing advice to clients while also keeping within ASIC’s regulations.”

The SOAP Box Set was the result of consultation between the FPA and members, consumers, regulators, lawyers, compliance experts and technology providers.