FPA changed for better, member survey shows
The Financial Planning Association 2007 Member Survey has found that two-thirds of members believe the FPA has changed for the better in the last 12 months.
According to FPA, results from the survey show a strong turnaround from last year, with more members confident the FPA can better meet their needs in the future.
The key findings were:
Almost two-thirds (57%) of members believe the FPA has changed for the better in the last 12 months, 40% saw no change and only 3% thought it had gotten worse.
81% of members surveyed described themselves as either a loyal member and strong advocate of the FPA, a satisfied member or a critical member who sees signs of improvement.
Nine out of 10 areas showed signs of improvement in terms of FPA performance, with CFP education being the one minor decline.
Within communications, six out of eight areas showed positive improvements, with a slight decrease in ratings for Chapter related matters and CFP enquiries.
The top four priority areas for valuing FPA membership were the CFP designation, representing members’ interests to government, promoting advice to consumers and the FPA’s professional standards.
Almost two-thirds of members believe the Value of Advice Dazza campaign has not been effective in raising public awareness.
According to FPA, its members have not warmed to Dazza and they must do more to either convince members that Dazza has achieved significant cut-through to consumers, or FPA need to review its strategy.
Despite these good results, the survey showed there is still more work to do.
If one-third of members still rate its service as fair, FPA have some way to go. They want a vast majority to rate its service as good to excellent.
Following the results of the 2006 Member Survey, the FPA implemented a number of new initiatives to better focus on its members’ top four priorities:
Improved member communications and greater engagement with members through its Chapters and Principal members.
Relentless lobbying on Statements of Advice and the need to reduce the compliance burden on financial planners.
A new FICS Liaison Committee was established to undertake a review of its communications with FICS to improve outcomes for FPA members.
A revised Professionals Standards strategy, including the new Conduct Review Commission, effective 1 July 2007.
A member segmentation strategy, starting with CFP professionals, small and large Principal members, and new practitioners, to focus service delivery.
The launch of a new CFP promotional campaign which ramps up toward the end of 2007.
FPA research confirms the enduring nature of these priorities, and the results suggest that they are now heading in the right direction.
The FPA is working hard to ensure the positive trend continues. They would like to take this opportunity to thank its members for their endorsement. This vote of confidence from members means they are on the right track and they know exactly what to do to keep improving.
30-Aug-2007