ASIC financial adviser exam, Advice, retail clients and disclosure (FSG, SOA, ROA, PDS) question: I'd switch to balanced. The reply

ASIC examAdvice, retail clients and disclosure (FSG, SOA, ROA, PDS)

At a free community seminar on retirement run by Lakeview Advice, an attendee, Rosa, tells the presenter, a relevant provider, that she is 61, has A$310,000 in super and wants to stop work next year. She asks whether she should move into a balanced option. The presenter replies, 'In your position I'd switch to balanced.' The reply is BEST described as…

A general advice: it was given at a public seminar to someone who was not yet a client
B general advice, provided the seminar handouts carried a general advice warning
C not financial product advice: no particular fund or product issuer was named
D personal advice: a reasonable person would expect her situation to be considered

Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D. personal advice: a reasonable person would expect her situation to be considered

Under s766B(3) of the Corporations Act 2001 (compilation 19 Sep 2026), advice is personal advice if the provider considered one or more of the person's objectives, financial situation and needs, or a reasonable person might expect them to have. The presenter answered Rosa's own question about her age, balance and retirement plans with 'In your position', so a reasonable person would expect her situation to have been considered. Most seminar content is general advice, but the setting does not decide the character of a one-to-one answer, and Rosa need not be an existing client. A general advice warning is a disclaimer, and a disclaimer doesn't change the legal outcome. Advice about switching investment options in her fund is still financial product advice: s766B(1) covers decisions about a class of products or an interest in a product, whether or not an issuer is named.

Common mistake

The seminar setting suggests general advice, but s766B(3) asks what was considered, or would reasonably be expected to be, not where it was said.

Practise more Advice, retail clients and disclosure (FSG, SOA, ROA, PDS) questions

Exam-style questions with worked answers, then full timed mocks. Free to start.

Start practising →

Study note: Advice and disclosure: FSG, SOA, PDS and warnings Financial adviser exam practice and mock exams

Related questions

Cedar Advice, an AFS licensee that does not use website disclosure information, gave Paolo its FSG on 2 May when he booked an appointment. On 20 May, before his first advice meeting on 1 June, Cedar raises its initial advice fee from A$3,300 to A$4,400. To keep Paolo's disclosure up to date, Cedar should…Under Part 7.7 of the Corporations Act and the Corporations Regulations, an AFS licensee or authorised representative that gives personal advice to retail clients …Tessa, a relevant provider at Brightwater Advice, charges every client a flat annual fee and receives no commissions. Brightwater, her licensee, receives payments from a fund manager calculated on the amount of client money its advisers place in that manager's funds. Tessa wants her website to call her an 'independent financial adviser'. May she use the word 'independent'?

Build a daily practice habit — a few exam-style questions a day, with worked answers. Free to start.

Start practising →

Original practice material mapped to the learning outcomes in ASIC's exam guidance. Independent, not affiliated with or endorsed by ASIC. Verify figures and rules against current guidance before relying on them.