[Weekly Wrap] Looking ahead

2013 has been a busy year for financial advisers and 2014 is likely to be more of the same.

Friday, December 20th 2013, 2:18PM

by Susan Edmunds

First, the new version of the Code of Professional Conduct for AFAs is due within a couple of months, then the Financial Markets Conduct Act will kick in, with its licensing requirements for managed funds and those offering class DIMS.

The new regulations are likely to encourage more advisers to join forces, especially to manage their compliance requirements.

Camelot says this is already happening in earnest and is likely to become an even more pronounced trend next year as people work out what they need to do with their DIMS services.

But PAA president Bruce Cortesi says one of the most important challenges for the industry is to improve the public's perception of advisers.

He says we need more good news stories and fewer David Ross-type disasters making the headlines. One of his goals for the organisation over the next year is to spread more information about the good work that advisers are doing, and some of their success stories.

The FMA often says that it likes to operate in a transparent way, offering lots of advice on the way it is approaching things to help advisers and boost public confidence in the financial services sector. It issued another guidance note this week, this time looking at advisers who provide limited advice.

It says it's designed to show advisers how they can offer limited advice without breaching the Code. But some have said it's not all that helpful for advisers who may still be getting their heads around what exactly limited advice really is.

On the mortgage front, the big question at present is when we can expect the first OCR hike. Westpac yesterday revised its prediction for the rate's trajectory, saying it now expects increases March, April, June, September and December next year.

Rising business confidence may translate into inflation pressure, some economists say, which could force the bank's hand earlier. ANZ isn't ruling out a January increase.

« EDRs require long notice period

IFA working on pro-bono offering »

Special Offers