Financial planning took a big step forward when the Regulatory Guideline 146 (RG146) on the training of financial product advisers was introduced as part of the Financial Services Reform Act that came into effect in 2002.
Under the umbrella of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), it set out the training required by individuals to provide financial advice, including Self Managed Superannuation Funds. For all stakeholders, it finally gave a standard by which training providers could base their programs upon.
It is widely recognised that RG146 has its shortcomings. It was devised for financial planning and advice across the broad spectrum of financial products. From the perspective of the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) it lacked the comprehensive detail about SMSFs that professionals require in order to provide quality and robust advice.
SPAA, with the help of its members, took on the challenge to build an education curriculum that outlines the desired content of SMSF courses. This in turn provided professionals seeking to specialise in this complex and dynamic sector with a much richer supply of education solutions.
Around the same time, professionals were also seeking recognition of their specialisation in SMSFs so that they could provide trustees with evidence of their “well beyond the minimum” knowledge and skills.
SPAA was the first to offer a comprehensive accreditation program that provides individuals with certification that their SMSF skillset has been judged at a much higher level than the regulator’s “compliance” requirement – this accreditation program is called SPAA’s SMSF Specialist Advisor™ (SSA™) .
Today, a person achieving the SSA™ is recognised by the industry as having comprehensive specialist SMSF skills and knowledge.
This independent certification of a SMSF professionals’ competence provides trustees with confidence in an adviser’s SMSF expertise and assists in assessing whether to give their adviser the role of guiding them in the quest to build a quality retirement nest egg.
Liz Ward is Head of Education Services at SPAA. Contact Liz: lizward@spaa.asn.au
