Advisers must change government and regulator perceptions of their role, according to Association of Financial Advisers CEO Brad Fox.

“We can’t have regulators and government looking just at the numbers,” he told an association roadshow in Melbourne last week.

“They have got to understand it has to be about the emotion you are generating with the client. We need to be technically competent, but that is not what the client wants. It is our interpersonal skills and the ability to get into the eye of the client.”

Consumers want advisers to have technical skills beyond simply holding a Diploma of Financial Planning, he says.

“We are bringing our profession up and we now have to improve our standing with the public. If we do that we will get more clients and more people seeing advisers.”

Advisers must be “committed to the right behaviour. It is your behaviour that sets the culture in your business.” 

Financial advice still has some way to go before consumers perceive it as a profession, Mr Fox says.

“In any team there are those who deliver the lower performance. We have a challenge in bringing those members up to the winning players in the team. It doesn’t mean the adviser is not competent – we just need a better standard, so consumers see us all as professionals.”