Alternatively, ASIC has given conditional class order relief (CO 09/210) from the requirements of Section 945A of the Corporations Act, removing the threat of criminal prosecution for trustees that choose to rely on the relief when giving personal advice. The aim of the guidance and regulatory relief is to clarify existing law and increase super fund members’ access to limited personal advice. As at 30 June, 2009 there were 52 super trustees licensed to provide personal advice on super and able to access the relief provided under CO 09/210. “It’s our understanding that a few funds are in the process of applying to extend their AFSL in light of the intra fund relief, that is that they’re currently licensed to provide general advice and to provide intra fund personal advice to members under the relief in CO 09/210 they must first be licensed to provide personal advice,” says a spokesperson for ASIC.

“It must be emphasised that super trustees can also decide to outsource arrangements to provide scaled intra fund advice under the Corporations Act and in a way that does not rely on the relief. Super trustees and financial advisers can also use the guidance provided in RG 200 to give factual information and general advice on intra fund type issues without applying to ASIC.” David Moxon, fund development manager at Vision Super, agrees funds with their own personal advice AFSL, and inhouse financial planners, will find it easier to respond to RG 200. “I’m developing our plans and processes for implementing RG 200 at the moment,” he says. “It’s much easier for us given we have an inhouse member services area, a call centre, and an inhouse financial planning area.

It would be much harder in my estimation to give simple, practical advice to members if you had an outsourced service.” Vision Super has its own retirement planning services team, including seven financial planners and seven paraplanners. The fund has had its own personal advice AFSL for five years now, and Moxon says those people giving general advice will now be able to provide personal advice as well, without having to refer the member through to a financial planner. “To go through the full financial planning process requires us to comply with the legislation, and do a full fact find to establish people’s circumstances and needs and objectives and that’s fine for people who are planning their retirement, but for a member who simply wants to know how to do salary sacrifice, or how to go about making contributions if they’re eligible for the Government co-contribution, they don’t need to go through all that and they shouldn’t have to,” he says.