UNE Business School Seminar Series

12pm- 1pm, Tuesday 2 September

LT2, W40, Economics, Business and Law

Financial Literacy and the Financial Planning Sector: Practitioners’ Perspectives

Presented by

Associate Professor Mark Brimble, Griffith Business School

Abstract

There is global concern about high proportions of the population who lack the adequate financial literacy capabilities and confidence to make self-sustaining financial planning decisions (OECD, 2005; Atkinson  et al., 2007; Worthington, 2008; 2006).  The concerns that flow from this are both social and economic, and have been responded to by a range of government and private sector initiatives.  The evidence on the effectiveness of these programs is scant, making any assessment of the quality and value difficult and evidence has begun to emerge illustrating a less than ideal impact of these activities on the financial decision making capacity of the participants (West, 2012a; Willis, 2008).

In Australia over the last 20 years the Financial Planning sector has been transitioning from a sales-orientated force to a profession of qualified and skilled individuals.  Given the received theory and evidence from other professions in relation to effective client-professional relationships, which espouse notions of trust, engagement and empowerment we argue the role of professional financial planners includes educating their clients.  We seek to explore if a lack of financial literacy may undermine client relationships and the client’s propensity to seek advice.  This paper addresses this by offering an investigation of the views of Australian financial planners in this regard.   We find strong support for the importance and relevance of financial literacy to financial advice services and that a lack of financial literacy in clients has a detrimental impact on professional-client relationship.

Biography

Dr Mark Brimble is an Associate Professor (Finance) in the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics in the Griffith Business School. He has a Phd on capital markets and has active research interests in financial markets, sustainable finance, personal finance and finance education, with publications in various national and international journals including Accounting and Finance, Corporate Governance: An International Perspective, The Griffith Law Review, The International Journal of Learning, and Higher Education Research and Development. Assoc Professor Brimble has a number of years experience in teaching and learning leadership roles, with seven years as the Program Director of a Bachelor of Commerce program and numerous teaching and learning grants, citations and awards, including leading the team that won the 2010 Business and Higher Education Round Table award for the best higher education and training collaboration and an Australian Teaching and Learning Council Citation in 2011. Dr Brimble is also a CPA, a fellow of the Finsia, a member of the Financial Planning Association of Australia and an Office of Learning and Teaching Fellow. Finally, Mark is also foundation member and Chair of the Financial Planning Education Council and Founding Co-Chair of the Financial Planning Academic Forum. In his substantive role at Griffith University, Mark is the Deputy Head of the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics (Learning and Teaching) and Head of the Finance and Financial Planning discipline. In 2014 the Board of the Financial Planning Association awarded Mark a Distinguished Service Award for service to the profession. For more information see http://markbrimble.wordpress.com/about-mark/.