ASIC said it had visited 35 newly-licensed financial advice businesses, representing just over a quarter of AFS licensees granted an AFS licence between July 2012 and June 2013, with an authorisation to provide personal financial advice to retail clients.

AFS licensees were questioned about their business model, advice processes, and approach to risk and compliance.

The findings show approximately 80 per cent of AFS licensees providing SMSF advice require their advisers to undergo additional training before providing SMSF advice.

This represents a “significantly stronger” result compared to the 2012/2013 project, in which 48 per cent of new AFS licensees required their advisers to undergo additional training before providing SMSF advice.

“The intention behind these visits is to proactively engage with our newer regulatory population, as well as assisting them to better comply with the AFS licensee obligations,” ASIC stated.