After plans were revealed last week for the WMA and APFA to merge into a new body, APFA director general Chris Hannant tells FP Today readers more about what it entails, the benefits for advisers, and what it means for members' fees. Read on for Mr Hannant's article below. 

Most of you will have heard by now that APFA is proposing to merge with the Wealth Management Association (WMA) to become the Investment Management and Financial Advice Association (IMFA), subject to approval from members.

The merger will be better for financial advisers and better in many ways.

The principal reason for a trade association to exist is to be an advocate on behalf of a particular sector. The merger will improve the effectiveness of our voice in two ways.

Firstly, it reduces duplication where APFA and WMA make similar concerns known on common issues, such as the cost of regulation, FSCS levies or new EU measures like MiFID II. By freeing resources, we can cover more issues more effectively.

Secondly, policymakers do not want to hear from a variety of slightly different organisations in the same sector with a variety of slightly different views and demands.

Instead, they would prefer to discuss policy issues with a coalition of like-minded organisations representing the breadth of a particular industry. This usually means that the larger the coalition or trade association, in terms of members, assets and resources, the greater its ability to effectively represent its members’ views to policymakers.

By merging with the WMA, adviser members will benefit from being part of a larger group which represents the full breadth of the retail investment and which can accordingly wield more influence in on the policy and regulatory issues which affect financial advisers. The new organisation will be the representative body on retail investment and advice issues.

APFA’s agenda for financial advice will be retained and developed in the new body. The overarching goal is to work towards an effective regulatory and policy environment, which encourages and supports a thriving and innovative advice sector.

The new organisation would continue to provide many opportunities for financial adviser members of all types and sizes to engage and feed views into our policy work and other programmes. For instance, APFA’s current Council – which includes smaller local and regional firms as well as networks and nationals – would form part of the IMFA’s Board.

There will also be a dedicated Financial Advice and Planning Committee, formed of financial adviser members, which will focus on the issues, which matter most to the advice community.

APFA as an organisation has, over the last 15 years, adapted to the changing needs of its members and the financial advice community more generally.

Our current council, representing both large and small adviser firms, unanimously believes that the proposed merger would be of benefit to adviser members, for all the reasons I have outlined above.

Fees for advisers will be held constant for 2017/18.

The team will remain with the new organisation to ensure that financial advisers and their views are represented at every level of the new organisation.

The EGM on the merger will be taking place on 23 May and I encourage all APFA members to share their views on the future of their trade association.