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Efficiency
1 MIN READ

The myth of the mammoth SOA

nathan.fradley's avatar
nathan.fradley
Icon for Advisely Contributor rankAdvisely Contributor
2 months ago
If you asked every adviser to name one thing they could fix about the advice process, the vast majority would point to the length of the SOA. They're too long, too dense and the vast majority of clie...
Updated 2 months ago
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SOA
nathan.fradley's avatar
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Independant Financial Adviser at Fradley Advice, Co-host of the Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice Podcast, and industry contributor
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mat.tenison3's avatar
mat.tenison3
Icon for Advisely Board rankAdvisely Board
14 days ago

Hi Nathan, a great video and reckon it resonates well with the industry! 

Years ago, I visited an adviser friend who was licensed under Dover. Despite the scrutiny and eventual closure following the Royal Commission, I was really impressed by the SOAs they produced. While ASIC had concerns regarding the wording of their client protection policy, which is a separate issue, they did a great job maintaining clarity and conciseness in the SOA. They achieved this by using hyperlinks for generic information, allowing the advice document to focus on clear recommendations and the rationale behind them, along with the standard disclosures.

I'm currently with a large AFSL, and as you mentioned, the documents are often bulky and difficult for clients to comprehend. It would be encouraging to see more progress from the major AFSLs, as this is one of the reasons many advisers are considering self-licensing—a path I'm also exploring.

(I'm not even going to speak about AI as that's a whole other story which is unfolding and looking really exciting!)

Cheers!