The Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) has released exam results from the sixth Financial Advisers Exam held in June 2020.

FASEA has highlighted areas for improvement, particularly amongst unsuccessful candidates.

It says that exam question areas advisers have underperformed in are set out below (categorised by curriculum areas).

Financial Advice Regulatory and Legal Requirements:

• Advice documentation (including Financial Services Guide (FSG),
• Statement/Record of Advice (SOA/ROA),
• Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Fee Disclosure Statement (FDS)) – the exam tests an understanding of when to issue these to clients and what is required to be included (eg. Fees and disclosures).
• Advice Types – understanding the difference between personal advice, general advice, and information and how they apply to different client scenarios
• Privacy Act – understanding the difference between personal and sensitive information and whether consent has been appropriately obtained before using information
• Anti-money Laundering (AML) Act – identifying potentially suspicious transactions and required reporting in client advice scenarios

Financial Advice Construction:

• Identification of client biases and how they may influence clients’ financial decisions and/or investment choices

Applied ethical and professional reasoning and communication

• Understanding the application of the Code of Ethics and the Corporations Act to advice scenarios.

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Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
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About David Jacobson
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.