Cushy job or poisoned chalice?

Squizzy

12 August 2021

Squizzy has been reporting about the Australian financial planning industry for more years than he would care to admit and so he saw some symmetry in the recent announcement of the impending departure of another Financial Planning Association (FPA) chief executive, Dante De Gori and the exit of Jo-Anne Bloch from Mercer.

You see, Bloch and De Gori have something in common. They have both been chief executives of the FPA and have both found themselves trying to deal with the management of the organisation during a period of tumult.

In De Gori’s case that tumult has been generated by the Royal Commission and the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority regime and in Bloch’s case it was the nascent stages of the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) regime.

In between De Gori and Bloch it was, of course, Mark Rantall, who led the organisation through the FOFA implementation and of course initiatives such as the Life Insurance Framework.

But what Bloch and Rantall never faced was the exodus of financial advisers from the sector, largely driven by the FASEA regime.

What they all shared, however, was the continuing suggestion that the FPA should at some time merge with the Association Financial Advisers.

FPA CEOs come and go, but the merger debate goes on.