The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has reacted sharply to the Association of Financial Advisers’ (AFA) rejection of the FPA’s call for financial planners to be paid entirely through fees from 2012.

AFA CEO Richard Klipin says the FPA’s consultation paper into adviser remuneration calls into question the role of professional associations and the future of the profession, and argues that banning commissions takes away a consumer’s right to choose.

“To say that we have not been successful in producing a transparent regime denies many years of hard work on the part of the industry, the regulator and the Government,” he said.

But FPA CEO Jo-Anne Bloch described the AFA’s stance as “disappointing and short-sighted” and accuses it of trying to split the industry through “misleading statements designed to instill fear”.

Ms Bloch also rejects the AFA’s claims that the FPA is not focused on representing the interests of its members and says the AFA’s position on the topic is “nothing more than an attempt to recruit FPA members”.

Mr Klipin told insuranceNEWS.com.au he did not want to comment any further on the issue as partaking in a “to and fro” in the public does nothing for either association.

“We’ve got our message into the marketplace and had terrific support on it,” he said. “Now we’ve all had our say. This is a conversation we’ll have in the appropriate place.”
 
The Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) has supported the FPA’s call for a consultation process, saying it is a good way of understanding how quickly the industry might move towards a fee-for-service model.