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Should the education requirement for SMSF advisers be raised?
The SMSF Association has called on the Government to introduce a self-managed super fund (SMSF) education requirement in order to increase the education standards required for SMSF advisers.
The recommendation was included in its education standards for financial advisers submission, which also recommended that advisers with at least 10 years of experience be given the opportunity to apply to have their competencies assessed by a tertiary education provider.
The association said raising education standards for SMSF advisers could increase their knowledge relating to specific and complex legislation and would discourage advisers who wished to give SMSF advice but had not undertaken specialist SMSF training.
“Introducing an SMSF education requirement would also limit advisers who are licensed but have poor knowledge of SMSFs and limited recourse borrowing arrangements from advising on the product,” the association said.
Raising the education requirement for SMSF advisers would also discourage “property spruikers” from entering the SMSF advice market, according to the SMSF Association, as the education requirement could be too high.
The SMSF Association highlighted the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Report 575, which suggested increasing the training requirements for SMSF advice providers.
The ASIC report, which was later supported by the Productivity Commission, stated the corporate regulator would be engaging in discussions with FASEA about a specific SMSF qualification to improve the quality of SMSF advice.
The SMSF Association noted that no guidance or framework was produced by Financial Advisers Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) for consultation prior to its ending, despite the urging of ASIC and the Productivity Commission “as far back as 2018”.
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