7 December 2021

ASIC launches Financial Advice Hub for advice licensees and advisers.

• In response to industry feedback, ASIC is releasing a centralised financial advice webpage to make it easier to find ASIC guidance relevant to the financial advice industry.
• The Financial Advice Hub centralises relevant regulatory content, and will continue to be updated with new, user-friendly material.
• We encourage industry participants and stakeholders to visit the new Financial Advice Hub.

Today ASIC launches our new Financial Advice Hub. This centralised webpage is a one-stop access point for pertinent guidance and information impacting financial advice licensees, advisers, and relevant stakeholders.

ASIC developed the webpage following feedback, in response to Consultation Paper 332: Promoting access to affordable advice for consumers (CP 332), that ASIC’s guidance was hard to find. This financial advice webpage consolidates ASIC’s existing regulatory content on financial advice into a single repository to help industry participants more easily find the information that is most relevant and useful to them.

The financial adviser webpage is just one in a range of initiatives that ASIC has scheduled for release in response to calls to better assist advice licensees and advisers in their efforts to provide good-quality and affordable personal advice to consumers.

As part of CP 332, we asked industry to provide feedback about the impediments to providing good quality and affordable advice. We received an unprecedented 466 submissions from industry participants and relevant stakeholders. Part of the response from industry asked for shorter, simpler, and more user-friendly guidance with practical examples.

Some of ASIC’s other initiatives help address those requests directly, including:

• Information Sheet 266: FAQs – Records of advice (ROAs) and three ROA examples (21-294MR)
• Information Sheet 267: Tips for giving limited advice and an example statement of advice (SOA) (21-325MR)
• An advice snapshot summarising common terminology and advice concepts (coming soon)

For more information, see a summary of industry response.

ASIC anticipates that these new initiatives can help industry participants reduce compliance costs and deliver personal advice more efficiently and effectively. For consumers, this means improved access to affordable personal advice that better meets their needs and financial objectives.

In developing these initiatives, ASIC received timely and constructive feedback from the financial advice industry. We will continue to engage with industry on initiatives to assist them with providing good quality and affordable advice to consumers as resources permit.