High quality financial advice can improve financial security, give greater peace of mind and the freedom to pursue lifestyle goals. The Financial Services Royal Commission shone a light on how poor and conflicted financial advice can result in people being overcharged and being recommended poor financial products with disastrous impact. The causes of this behaviour, namely conflicts of interest, are now well understood and must be removed. It is also an opportunity to consider how regulation can better support the needs of average Australians in accessing affordable and independent advice they can trust. This should be a review for the consumers of advice. The Terms of Reference need explicit direction to review the quality of advice being delivered to consumers today. Reviewing the quality of advice was not only the intention of the Royal Commission, but a sound evidence based place to start before proposing changes in regulation. The Review would fail to live up to its own name if it did not.
