The release of the results of a ‘shadow shop’ survey of superannuation advice has been delayed until next week due to “logistical reasons”, according to a spokesperson for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Originally scheduled for release this Wednesday the ASIC survey of consumer experience of advice given by financial planners about superannuation will now hit the streets some time next week. The report, which comes three years after the publication of the last ‘shadow shopper’ survey that resulted in a vehement media campaign against financial planners, is understood to show the industry in only a slightly better light than previous surveys. For the super advice survey, however, the regulator enlisted the services of research firm Roy Morgan rather than co-operating with the Australian Consumers’ Association (ACA) as it had done in earlier ‘quality of advice’ studies ASIC said last year it still planned to conduct further ‘quality of advice’ surveys with the ACA. The current survey was designed to test the impact of choice of fund (which came into effect last July) on the financial planning industry and was based on the results of 300 consumers who were seeking advice on their super funds. Last year Greg Tanzer, ASIC head of consumer protection said: “We will also be checking whether the financial advice complies with the law, particularly whether advisers have met their legal obligations related to switching. “These obligations include that the adviser finds out about the client’s current superannuation arrangements and considers any potential lost benefits or transfer costs before recommending a change.”