Record of Advice
A shorter record of personal advice that Australian advisers may keep instead of a Statement of Advice in three situations set by the Corporations Act and Regulations.
A Record of Advice (RoA) is the record an adviser keeps when the law lets them skip a full Statement of Advice. There are three situations: further advice to a client who already has an SoA, where neither their relevant circumstances nor the basis of the advice is significantly different (s946B as substituted by reg 7.7.10AE); small investment advice of $15,000 or less (s946AA); and advice that recommends no product to buy or sell and earns no benefit for the advice itself (s946B(7)).
The record sets out the advice, or brief particulars of the recommendations and their basis, together with the adviser’s remuneration and conflicts information. For further advice it can be kept in any form, including a recording, for 7 years. A client can ask for a copy for 7 years after the advice.
- 01
One of the three exceptions applies; otherwise the advice needs an SoA.
- 02
The advice, or brief particulars of the recommendations and the basis for them.
- 03
Remuneration, benefits, interests and associations that might influence the advice.
- 04
Switching information where a product is being replaced (s947D).
- 05
Small investment advice: a copy given to the client when, or soon after, the advice.
- 06
Further advice: the record kept for 7 years (reg 7.7.09(3)).
In an established practice most advice documents are not new-client SoAs; they are reviews and small changes, and many of those can be Records of Advice. The risk sits in the condition, not the document: an RoA used where the client’s circumstances have in fact changed significantly is an SoA that was never given. A good record states which exception applied and the facts that show it did.
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