Axa Asia Pacific CEO Les Owen says it is unlikely financial advisers associated with his company will be caught up in the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigation covering the financial services industry.

The comments come after ASIC announced last week that it will investigate up to 14 financial planners and a number of firms following a damning report into the quality of financial advice on superannuation.

An ASIC spokesman declined to name the financial planners and firms involved when Sunrise Exchange News asked yesterday.

Speaking at the company’s AGM last week, Mr Owen says as far as he is aware, “none of the advisers that ASIC said they wanted to follow inquiries up with are licensed by Axa”.

As one of the biggest advisory networks in Australia, Axa has more than 1050 planners nationwide.

The regulator also criticised financial advisers over the issue of remuneration commissions. However, Mr Owen says there is substantial research indicating that consumers would not pay a fee for advice.

“What’s important in advice is if it is in the best interests of the customer and the cost of advice is transparent,” he said.

The report into superannuation advice found about a third of financial advisers urging customers to switch super funds had no reasonable basis, and one in five customers were given advice that did not meet legal requirements.

During the AGM, Axa announced its profit after tax and before non-recurring items was up 18.1% to $542.4 million compared with $459.1 million in 2004.

The company says operating earnings, which are the most meaningful measure of the underlying performance of the business, were up 23.1% to $376.7 million compared with $306 million in 2004.