Genuine adviser body collaboration urged on ASIC levy

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

1 September 2021

The organisation representing AMP financial planners is falling for a united industry approach to the Treasury’s review of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) levy. 

The Adviser Association (TAA) has pointed out that the levy relief provided by the Government is temporary and that the review of the ASIC levy will need genuine cooperation amongst the advice community to develop sustainable and consumer-focused solutions. 

TAA chief executive, Neil Macdonald said it was vital to find a way for all vested interests to genuinely collaborate. 

“It is vital to find a way for all vested interests in our community to genuinely collaborate so that we move forward,” he said. “We need to collectively agree on, and collectively design, a new model for financial advice; a model that has the client at its core, that is sustainable, enables the efficient and cost-effective delivery of financial advice to everyday Australians, and provides consumers with the right level of protections.”
 
Macdonald said that given the diverse range of vested interests in the financial advice sector, collaboration needs to be approached scientifically.  

“Genuine collaboration requires not just a willingness on the part of the people within the profession and the industry to work together, but also policies, processes and technology.”

The methodology already exists, he said, in the form of Alignment Optimisation Technology (AOT). AOT helps synthesise diverse opinions, arrive at a consensus, and work efficiently towards a consensus goal, via an agreed and coordinated set of actions. Although a comparatively new approach, it is already being used by a wide range of Fortune 100 companies in the US.