As a tumultuous year in the lives of all Australians draws to a close, the FPA Annual Report 2020 looks back on some of our key initiatives in advocacy, education and support for our members and the financial planning profession as a whole.
From our Chair and CEO
In their respective reports on the year in review, our Chair Marisa Broome CFP® and Chief Executive Officer Dante De Gori CFP®, share different perspectives on the disruption and adversity our community and profession has faced. “We are currently experiencing Australia’s first recession in decades,” says Marisa. “This period is challenging for many, but it has also highlighted the value of financial planning advice in peoples’ lives and the expertise of FPA members.” Marisa goes on to stress the importance to our members of investing in their wellbeing at such a challenging time, particularly those who are preparing to sit their FASEA exams.
Dante introduces the Annual Report by acknowledging the courage and commitment shown by financial planning professionals during what has been a very challenging year. He highlights some key areas where the FPA have matched this commitment in their advocacy on behalf of the profession, in particular our partnership with the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) to lobby for and secure an extension for the FASEA education requirements. He also stresses the importance of the new FPA five-year strategic plan introduced at the end of May 2020. This three-pronged approach, focusing on Members, Advocacy and Consumers (MAC) also provides the chapter structure for this year’s Annual Report.
Our members
In 2020, we have welcomed over 1,000 new members to the FPA and are proud to have a total of 13,189 members in our Association at this time. While we have seen member numbers fall by 6.6 per cent from 2019, this is to be expected given the many changes our profession is experiencing. This is also far less than the 15 per cent fall in financial advisers listed on ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register (FAR) from June 2019 to June 2020.
Significant industry reform from the Financial Services Royal Commission, new FASEA standards, and changes to business models by many large Australian Financial Services Licensees, have all contributed to financial planners choosing to leave the profession. We expect these changes to continue affecting FPA member numbers and the wider financial planner population in the coming year.
Advocacy in action
In a major advocacy milestone, 2020 saw the FPA release our policy platform document Affordable Advice, Sustainable Profession. This document charts a five pillar approach to our policy and advocacy priorities for the next five years. Brief summaries for each of the 19 policy recommendations are included in the report. It’s also been an eventful year for our team in moving forward with these priorities with almost 300 government and stakeholder meetings and 38 submissions to our government and regulators.
Consumer engagement
During a year when our community and clients have needed our support more than ever, our FPA team have worked together with members to continue engaging with a growing client base. We now have over 17,000 newsletter subscribers and the Money & Life consumer website has had over a quarter of a million visits over the course of the year. More than 2,000 clients leads have been generated through our Match My Planner service.
Broader communication to consumers has also been ramping up thanks to our Financial Planning Week campaign and other consumer and PR activities. During the year the FPA have secured coverage in over 1,800 media clips and 160 CFP® professionals have been featured in the media. Our Ask a CFP® professional consumer advertising campaign launched in May was a timely reminder for Australians of the value of professional financial advice in addressing their most urgent financial concerns.
Giving back to our communities in their time of need has also been a key focus of our outreach activities this year. 187 members have registered with our Cancer Council and Bushfire Pro Bono programs, and 180 cases have been referred to these financial planner professionals for pro bono financial advice. Also FPA members once again generously supported the Future2 Foundation and have enabled it to distribute over $1.1 million in grants since its inception.
New and improved services
We continue to support our members in their education, practice management and marketing activities through a growing range of services and support options. A number of new services and tools have been introduced in 2020, including our Professional Year Tool, FPA Community and My CPD portals. We also took our annual congress virtual this year, turning it into am extended networking and learning program, giving members the opportunity to connect with their peers and industry experts as well as keeping up their CPD hours.
With the extraordinary circumstances our whole country has faced in 2020, connecting with our members and keeping them informed was a top priority. We quickly responded to the social distancing situation introduced by COVID-19 by running a series of 11 FPA Together events in May and June to keep members informed on the latest developments impacting the profession, their businesses, careers and clients. We also shared breaking news and announcements with members throughout the year in our FPA Today newsletter and FPA Alert emails.
The importance and value of financial advice to everyday Australia has been highlighted in this year of unprecedented change. “The COVID-19 pandemic is a major life event for all Australians,” says Dante in his CEO Report. “Whether you are directly impacted by the virus or know someone who is, the financial impact of the evolving situation has touched all of us. In this unprecedented environment Australia’s financial planning community has stepped up to be of invaluable service those who require the guidance of a trusted financial planning professional.”
